Fate vs Free Will
by Porter-Fuzz1218
Summary: Luke was just trying to relax on a week long elk hunt in Colorado when he stumbles into a different world. As he tries to figure out what he is now doing in a land called "Skyrim" he discovers that there are forces at work that he can't seem to understand or get away from. The only thing he can ask himself is what can he do if his own fate isn't in his hands?
1. Chapter 1

"_Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"__** – Garth Nix**_

**Chapter One**

_**Luke**_

The crisp, early morning, autumn air of the Rocky Mountains blew through the small foothills where there was an encampment. The sky was painted with pinks and reds as the sun was starting to rise in the east as a man worked his way out of the tent and began to stretch. As Luke took in the view of the coming sunrise he started to walk towards the tree that housed his hunting gear. Luke took in a deep breath and gave his back one last stretch that resulted in his lower back giving a satisfying crack. Luke slowly started to lower his gear from the tree as his thoughts and hopes wondered to how how the day was going to pan out.

Once his gear was on the forest floor Luke started to put on the camo vest over his shirt and then bent down to fully tie his boots. As he straightened out he picked up his compound bow and took stock of the remaining supplies. There were three days worth of rations left that had been prepared before Luke had left for this elk hunting trip just over a week ago. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder as he stood up, Luke glanced up towards the sky as the pinks and reds started to become more pronounced. _I hope that I can find an elk in a couple hours,_ he thought, _or this is going to be a really long day._

The sun was high in the sky by the time that Luke decided to stop for a quick snack. Luke let out a sigh to and sat down on a rock that was protruding from the moss-covered ground. Slightly peeved, he slung my backpack off his shoulders and onto the ground in front of him. He removed a protein bar and munched on it for a bit. "I thought that I would have seen something by now," he mused out loud. "This is getting really annoying." Luke then took a quick stock of my surroundings and noticed a deer path heading deeper into the foothills. With one last sigh, he put the wrapper from his protein bar into his backpack and zipped the pack shut. With a roll of his head, Luke stood up and slung the backpack over his shoulders once again and started to follow the deer path in hopes that it'd bring him closer to finding an elk.

As Luke followed the deer path deeper into the foothills of the Rockies, he took a quick glance down at his watch and saw that it was 14:38_. I need to give myself enough time to get pack to the camp before the sun goes down, otherwise I'll be in a bit of trouble,_ Luke thought to himself. A noise to his left made him snap out of his thoughts and he quickly swung towards the sound of the foliage rustling. Cursing in his head at his suddenness, Luke slowly started to crouch and remove an arrow from the quiver on his compound bow. Once the arrow was nocked, he scanned the area the noise had come from. There was nothing there at first glance and he slowly started to make his way towards the said area. Passing under a couple of birch trees Luke noticed a large hill with a creek at the bottom. The creek was running towards the west and Luke noticed that he was a lot closer to the foothills than he had previously thought. He saw some tracks on the far bank of the creek, but no signs of whatever had made the noise. With a sigh, Luke took the arrow off of the string and placed it back on the quiver. He then made his way down the hill and walked over to the set of tracks on the opposite side of the creek.

The creek was so shallow that it barely rose above the laces on the topside of Luke's boots. He crouched down and inspected the tracks and his heart started to beat a little bit faster once he realized that they were elk tracks. He followed the tracks along the creek's bank and saw that the tracks led into a cave. _That's odd,_ he thought. _I've never heard of an elk bedding down inside of a cave before._ Luke once again removed an arrow from the quiver and nocked it. With the speed of a turtle, but the haste of a rabbit, Luke took his first steps into the cave.

Oddly enough there was enough natural light in the cave somehow that he could see perfectly fine. The walls of the cave rumbled as Luke heard what sounded like a thousand voices shout "YAH DOVAHKIIN!" The walls stopped rumbling as soon as the echo of the shout ceased.

"That was weird," Luke muttered to myself as he blinked a couple of times in confusion. _Was someone just screwing with me?_ he thought. The odds of that happening were a bit high, so Luke doubted that was the case. He didn't really have a rational explanation for what had just happened as he slowly made his way around the cave. The cave didn't lead anywhere so Luke decided to circle back, almost quite literally, to the cave entrance. He stopped in the middle of his walk and looked up at the cave's ceiling and frowned. _This doesn't look like the cave I entered,_ he thought.

The ceiling of the cave was arched, more so than Luke remembered it being when he first followed the elk tracks in. The ceiling looked more like a dome, but with stalactites and moss hanging down. Luke looked behind him and became a little concerned when he saw that there wasn't anything but a wall of rock behind him. The most concerning part was that there weren't signs of a cave in either, just natural rock. A natural ramp led to the floor of the cave, where a solitary rock sat. There was a loud panting noise and Luke froze as a bear rose from beneath the ramp.

Taking a more careful stock of the cave, Luke noticed a human skeleton by the bear and the blood stained ground. Over to the right of the skeleton was what looked like a wagon, but a really old styled one, the kind that horses probably would pull, and a chest. The bear made a couple of grunts and started to move around the cave and Luke was glad that it hadn't noticed him yet. Once the bear settled down, he came to a realization that there was no way that he was going to get out of this cave with the bear lounging about, and Luke didn't have a bear tag, nor any bear spray. _I'll just have to either explain this to the game wardens or not say anything at all, _he thought.

Luke readied his compound bow and nocked an arrow. With a deep breath he drew the string back to his anchor point and readied the thumb release. Muscle memory guided the bow up and made tiny adjustments as Luke aimed at the kill zone. The bear once again stood up and that was when Luke released his breath and let the shot go. The thumb release let out a little click and the weapon gave a bit of a twang as the pulleys guided the string back to its resting place. The bear turned its head to look at where the sound came from, but by then it was too late as the broadhead sunk into its heart. The bear released a grunt and fell over on its side and let out one last rattle of air before death claimed it.

Luke cautiously walked down the naturalized ramp and out of curiosity walked over to the chest that he had seen earlier. He knelt down and popped the chest open to see what was inside. What he found were a small bag and a book. The small bag clattered a little bit and Luke opened the drawstring. His eyes widened when he saw that the bag held gold coins. Luke plucked a coin out of the bag and turned it back and forth. There was an odd sigil stamped on one side of the coin and a man's head stamped onto the other. After putting the coin back in the bag he moved on to the book that read: _Spell Tome: Lighting Bolt_. With a frown, Luke shrugged off his backpack and set it onto the ground. He looked around the cave on last time and quickly put the bag of coin and the book into the backpack. With a grunt Luke stood up and both of his knees popped. Luke walked towards what looked to be the exit of the cave and made his way up the slight incline that was teasing daylight at the end of it.

Once he exited the mouth of the cave Luke's jaw fell open in shock. There were mountains in the distance and a hill directly across from where he stood. A river was between the hill that he was on and the hill across from him. On the opposite bank there was a pathway and as his eyes followed the path there was a small town with houses built of stone and straw. Luke took a couple of steps forward and looked to his right to see a bridge made entirely of stone spanning the width of the river. One thing was certain; this definitely was not the cave he had entered in Colorado. Luke slowly made his way towards the bridge and towards the town.

As Luke crossed the bridge, he took a look to his left and followed the river down and was surprised to see more mountains in the distance. With a shake of his head, Luke turned back towards the town and took a quick note of the abandoned looking hut across from what looked to be a sawmill. As Luke got closer to the sawmill he saw that there was what looked like a grain mill of some sort across from it in the town. There was a woman tending the garden as he approached the fenced in area. She was dressed in a brown and white dress. She turned and looked at Luke with a frown on her face.

"Who are you?" she asked in a heavy accent.

"Ah, my name is Luke," he answered, "Luke Porter. What's yours?"

"The name is Fastred," the woman answered. "You look strange, what is it that you are wearing?"

_I look strange?_ Luke thought. _You look like you've come directly out of a fantasy novel or movie._ "I'm wearing hunting gear," he answered out loud. "Would you mind telling me where I am?"

Fastred seemed taken back with that question and replied, "You're in the town of Ivarstead in the Rift province of Skyrim."

Luke blinked a couple of times and repeated, "Ivarstead? Where is that in relation to Denver?"

"Never heard of Denver before," Fastred said. "Are you feeling okay stranger?"

"To be honest I'm not quite sure. I feel like I'm in a really fucked up dream."

"How did you come to Ivarstead?"

"Through that cave across the bridge," Luke answered and pointing at it with his thumb behind his shoulder.

Fastred's eyes widened and she asked, "Pinepeak Cavern? Did the bear not give you trouble?"

"Uh, yeah and no the bear wasn't any trouble at all," Luke answered.

Fastred's eyes now narrowed with my answer and her voice took an edge to it, "How did the bear not give you any trouble? It's been killing every hunter that attempts to get into that cave!"

"I don't know how it didn't give me any trouble," Luke replied with a sigh, "I just shot it before it realized that I was in the cave with it. Simple as that."

"It's not as simple as that! How did you get into the damned cave?"

"I have no fucking idea. Is there a place that I can get a drink?" Luke asked changing subject.

"Yes, Vilemyr Inn just down the road."

"Thank you," Luke said with a slight nod of his head. He turned away from Fastred and was about to head toward the inn when he heard Fastred say, "This is far from over traveler."

Luke made it to the inn after a short walk and entered through the door. _This either had to be a reclusive commune hidden in the Rockies that no one has run across before or I'm still asleep in my tent and this is all a really fucked up dream,_ Luke thought to himself. _If this is a commune, my satellite phone should still work_. _If this is a dream, this'll be the last time that I eat a protein bar before I go to bed_. Luke approached the bartender, who gave him a weary look, and asked him, "What do you have to drink?"

"We have some Honningbrew mead or some Black-Briar mead," the bartender answered. "Are you looking for something to eat as well?"

"Yes please."

"We have some venison stew, cheese, and bread."

"I'll take some venison stew, bread, and a glass of Black-Briar mead please."

"That'll be ten septims."

Luke gave a quick nod and set his bow down on a seat next to him before he took his backpack off and set it down on the counter. Luke grabbed the coin bag that he had found in the cave and counted out eleven coins. He then handed them to the bartender, who gave him a raised eyebrow when he counted out the eleventh coin. Luke gave him a shrug and closed his backpack up. The bartender informed Luke that the food would be ready in a little bit and Luke quickly thanked him and moved over to a table in the corner.

The inn was pretty impressive in Luke's eyes. The fireplace in the middle of the floor seemed a bit odd, but also made sense that it was easily the only source of heat for the building. As his gaze wandered around the inn, a woman came out from a room to the bartender's left. She was dressed in a strapless, deep red and white, dress. In her hands was a light brown stringed instrument, a lute perhaps. She took a quick gaze and looked a little disappointed that Luke was the only patron occupying the inn's dining area. She started to walk over to me when the bartender called her over. "Lynly! Do you have a moment?"

"Yes Wilhelm?" Lynly responded as she turned her attention to the bartender.

The bartender leaned in towards Lynly and started whispering while occasionally glancing over at Luke and probably did not notice that Luke was paying them any attention. Lynly turned and looked at Luke before turning back to Wilhelm. She said something to him and then made her way back over to Luke. Luke pretended not to have noticed anything that was going on between Lynly and Wilhelm. He raised an eyebrow when she stopped a couple of feet away from him.

"How can I help you?" Luke asked.

"I see that you are a stranger here," said Lynly, "I was wondering if you'd like to hear a song? It's not often that Ivarstead gets any visitors."

"What are my song options?" he questioned, as he really wanted to see if this was a dream or some type of commune. Luke kind of expected an old bar song from the 1600's or around that time frame to be sung.

"I really only know the song of Ragnar the Red, to be honest with you," Lynly answered. "Otherwise I only play the lute."

"Well, how about Ragnar the Red?" he asked.

Lynly nodded and responded, "Alright, here it goes."

Lynly strummed a couple of chords on her lute and Wilhelm walked over with Luke's food and drink. Once the bowl and goblet hit the table, Wilhelm was gone as quickly as his feet could carry him. Luke picked up a spoon and started to eat the stew as Lynly started to sing:

_Oh, there once was a hero named Ragnar the Red,  
Who came riding to Whiterun from old Rorikstead  
And the braggart did swagger and brandish his blade  
As he told of bold battles and gold he had made_

_But then he went quiet, did Ragnar the Red  
When he met the shieldmaiden, Matilda, who said:  
Oh you talk, and you lie, and you drink all our mead  
Now I think it's high time that you lie down and bleed_

_And so then came clashing and slashing of steel  
As the brave lass Matilda charged in full of zeal  
And the braggart named Ragnar was boastful no more  
When his ugly red head rolled around on the floor_

That was definitely a song that Luke didn't have knowledge about. He set down his spoon and gave Lynly a couple of claps for her performance. "Good job," Luke acknowledged before turning back to his meal. "Thank you," he heard Lynly say to which the sound of retreating footsteps quickly followed. Luke finished the bowl of venison stew, which he thought was perfectly seasoned and had an amazing taste. The stew was unquestionably homemade and something that he could appreciate. Luke let the spoon fall into the bowl with a satisfied sigh used the bread to mop up any remaining stew. Luke then turned his attention to the goblet of mead. The mead was of a decent quality, not anything that he would sing high praise about, and he quickly drank the contents of the glass and set it down on the table. Luke turned and looked around the inn once again and noticed that while he had eaten, a couple of more patrons had come into the inn.

Luke noticed a man with a bow draped across his back with a quiver of arrows staring quite intently at him. The man was dressed in a very open outfit. Most of his torso was bare; the only thing covered was his left shoulder and collarbones. He also wore a leather cap on his head and it looked as if his entire outfit was made from leather and hide. Once the man noticed that Luke had made eye contact with him, his brow furrowed and his eyes turned hard. He stood up from his chair and approached Luke with strides full of purpose. He stopped once he reached Luke and gave him a once over. "What are you doing here stranger?" he demanded.

"To tell you the truth," Luke replied. "I have no fucking clue. I was elk hunting and followed some tracks into a cave. I didn't find the elk that left those tracks, but I did find myself in a cave that suddenly didn't have an entrance nor exit." Luke paused and stood up to look the man in the eye before he continued, "What I find in the cave is a bear, human remains, and a chest. I kill the bear and exit the cave only to find realize that the cave I just came from was not the same one I had entered! So I came to this town and decided to see if I could find some information as to what the hell I'm doing here. I found no new information other than the fact I'm not where I thought I was and getting nothing but odd stares from people whom I've never seen nor met before in my entire life. So you could say I'm having a fucked up day."

The man's frown deepened as he took a step away from Luke His eyes remained locked onto Luke's and he spat, "I don't believe you! I think that you are an Imperial spy!"

"I know nothing about an empire," Luke snarled back. "I've told you that I don't even know where I am!"

"Just admit that you're a faithless Imperial bastard or you'll be sorry!"

"I'll be sorry?" Luke snorted as he sized the man up. "Be careful who you threaten there buddy."

The man got into a fighting stance and said, "It wasn't a threat boy!"

"You're going to regret that if you throw that punch," Luke warned quietly.

"Barknar, that's enough!" shouted Wilhelm. "I will not have you antagonizing other patrons of my inn!"

"This whelp needs to be taught some respect," Barknar snapped.

"Respect?" Luke repeated. "You're the one that started this entire situation! If anything it's _you_ who should be taught some manners at the least."

"Oh that's it boy! You've asked for this!" Barknar said venomously as he threw a right hook.

_And here we go…_ Luke thought with some disappointment.

**Author's Note:****  
Hello Elder Scrolls fandom. I'd like to thank whoever is reading this story for giving it a shot. This is my first time writing something in a couple of years, so I feel like I'm a bit rusty. I've only recently discovered this fandom a couple of months ago after having started the Skyrim journey about a year ago. I've become completely enthralled with this universe that Bethesda has created. I hope that I can do it justice and if I am not, please feel free to let me know. Please leave a review on your way out and once again, thank you for your time.**

**Sincerely,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	2. Chapter 2

"_There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be..." __**–**__**John Lennon**_

**Chapter Two**

As Barknar's fist came flying in, Luke took a step to the side and hit Barknar in the ribs with a quick jab. Barknar stumbled back a step or two and his eyes blazed with anger. He charged back towards Luke with an angry roar and swung blindly once again. Luke blocked his attempt at a left hook and brought him in close. Luke used the momentum of Barknar's attack to flip him onto his back while still gripping his left wrist. Luke looked down at him and asked, "Are you done?"

"Fuck you, ya milk drinker!" he spat.

Luke let out a sigh and said, "Guess not." There was a loud snapping sound as Luke broke Barknar's wrist and his cries of pain echoed throughout the inn. Luke dropped Barknar's arm and turned back to the table he had been sitting at. Luke grabbed his bow and headed towards the bar. "Is there someplace I can get information around here?" he asked Wilhelm.

"I would say that the best place for it would be at High Hrothgar, up the Seven Thousand Steps," answered Wilhelm. "I would talk to Klimmek, he usually brings supplies up to the Greybeards."

"Where can I find Klimmek?"

"He's usually down by the river at the mill."

"Thank you for the meal and your time," Luke said as he turned to leave. Luke stopped next to Barknar, who was still rolling around on the floor in agony, and said, "I'm sorry about your wrist."

"Fuck you, you faithless Imperial bastard!" Barknar hissed through his teeth.

Luke shook his head and walked out the front door. He headed down the path and made his way to the mill he had seen on his way across the river when he had entered Ivarstead. Luke saw a smaller path deviate from the main path by a stack of logs, which he followed and saw a man dressed in a brown vest over a white shirt standing by the river. Luke cautiously approached the man and stopped a couple of paces behind him.

Luke cleared his throat and asked, "Are you Klimmek?"

The man turned around and Luke saw that his beard was tied in a neat point under his chin. His green eyes peered into Luke's blue eyes and he replied in a deep voice, "Aye, I am. What do you need stranger?"

"Wilhelm from the inn said that I should talk to you."

"What about?"

"Something about High Hrothgar."

"Ah, he must've thought that I needed help bring supplies up to the Greybeards," Klimmek spoke with a nod. "In fact I'm going to start the trip tonight. Would you like to come along?"

"If that doesn't bother you," Luke answered.

Klimmek shook his head and replied, "No, some company would actually do me some good on my trip. The road's getting a bit dangerous and my knees aren't as good as they used to be." Klimmek paused and gave Luke a once over. "You're dressed unusually, friend."

"It's pretty normal where I come from," Luke said.

"Where are you from?"

"Milwaukee."

"Never heard of it. Is that in High Rock?"

"No, it's in Wisconsin."

"Never heard of that either. Follow me to my house and I'll give you some gear for the travel."

"Thank you."

Klimmek walked past Luke and headed back up the path. Luke turned and followed him and slightly grimaced when we walked past the inn. Klimmek's house was right across from the inn and he pulled a key out of his trouser pocket. He unlocked the house and waved me inside as he entered his house. Luke gave the house a little glance and wondered where the stone came from to build the walls of the house. Luke gave himself a mental shrug and passed through the doorway.

Klimmek stood in front of the fireplace and gave Luke an appraising look. "You look about my size," he mused out loud. "A jacket would suit you fine and I suppose some gloves."

"That would be great," Luke said as he took stock of the interior. It was pretty plain, minus some rugs and a couple of pelts on the walls.

Klimmek gave a nod and walked towards the far wall and opened a wardrobe. He pulled out a couple of heavy fur jackets and tossed Luke one. I caught it and threw it over his shoulder as Klimmek went to a chest and pulled out a pack and a burlap sack. "Are you ready friend?" he asked Luke.

"I am," Luke answered.

"Good, now let us start this trek while we still have some daylight."

The two walked out of the house and headed towards the bridge. Klimmek paused at the farmhouse and looked at the field in disappointment. Luke opened his mouth to ask him something just as he started to walk again. Luke closed his mouth and adjusted his backpack before following Klimmek.

"So, what kind of supplies do you give the Greybeards?" Luke asked.

Klimmek briefly turned his head to look at Luke before focusing on the path ahead. "Mostly food supplies like dried fish and salted meats; you know, things that keep fresh for a long time," he answered. "The Greybeards tend not to get out much, if you catch my meaning."

_Must be some type of monks or something,_ Luke thought. _Wilhelm seemed to think that they could give me answers, but at this point I don't think anyone can give me an answer as to where I am. The longer I'm here, the more I feel like I'm not even in the United States anymore._ "What do you get in return for the supplies?" Luke asked, trying to take his mind off of things.

"Nothin, it wouldn't feel right to charge them for some preserved supplies," answered Klimmek.

Luke glanced over to his left after they had climbed a couple of steps and came to an abrupt stop on a ledge overlooking Ivarstead. Luke's heart rate started to skyrocket and he started to feel a bit faint. Luke was able to see more clearly and further than he had when he had first stepped out of the cave. A road ran for miles away from the town. Luke could see towers made of stone at the edge of the road and some mounds that reminded him of the ones ancient mound builders left behind in the United States. _There's no way in hell that all of that could be hidden in the Rockies…_ Luke thought. Klimmek called out Luke's name, which snapped him out of his doom ridden thoughts. With a start Luke turned toward the sound of Klimmek's voice and noticed the man was above him where the steps started to curl further up the mountain side.

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Klimmek.

"I… I'm not too sure," Luke answered. "What are those mounds past Ivarstead?"

"The one close to my house is Shroud Hearth Barrow," was my answer. "And the one further down is Geirmund's Hall. You didn't notice that on your way into town?"

"No," Luke croaked out before coughing and repeating it a bit louder when he got a weird look from his traveling companion. Luke climbed up to where Klimmek was and took a deep breath, before releasing it slowly.

"What's the matter, boy," Klimmek asked. "Scared of heights?"

"No, it's not that," Luke answered him. "I don't think that I'm at where I thought I was at, ya know?"

"Ah, far from home are we?"

"You could say that," Luke answered feeling queasy.

"How old are ya?"

"I'm twenty-three, how about yourself?"

"Just turned thirty-six last month, ma self."

"What's that tower of there?"

"That would be Nilheim, I wouldn't venture there if I were you," Klimmek said grimly. "Bandits are known to hide out there and wait for unsuspecting people to walk by the road and rob them."

"Thanks for the information," Luke said.

Klimmek was about to say something before he abruptly stopped in his tracks and held Luke back with his right arm. Klimmek's eyes looked to the trail ahead of the pair and Luke strained his eyes and ears to hear whatever it was Klimmek had heard. "Ready your strange weapon," Klimmek said quietly.

Luke pulled an arrow off the quiver and nocked it as slowly as he could. "What is it?" he asked as quietly as Klimmek had spoken as he simultaneously readied his thumb release.

"You see that moving white mass a head on the trail?" Klimmek asked as he met Luke's eyes. Luke nodded and Klimmek continued, "That there is a frost troll, nasty sons of bitches. They will kill a person and eat 'em if they aren't too careful. How good are you with that weapon of yours?"

"I'm a good shot if that's what you're asking," Luke answered.

"When that beast charges at us, aim for the middle eye on the forehead."

"What do you mean, when it charges at us?" Luke asked as he thought, _Middle eye?_

"I'm going to get it to charge at us, that'll give you an open shot at the only target that can guarantee it to drop dead right away."

"Why not shoot it in the heart or lungs?"

"Frost trolls, and any trolls for that matter, are quite resilient creatures. They will move forward and kill the shooter if they're not quick enough to get off successive shots. The damned things heal extremely fast as well, but are weak against fire."

"Okay…" Luke said hesitantly. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Klimmek gave Luke a grim smile and said, "I hope so." He turned back towards the path and gave a yell. The frost troll stopped thrashing about and turned to face the two men. It hit the ground a couple of times before giving off a call that Luke had no comparison to in his experience hunting. It charged toward at the men as Klimmek quickly moved behind Luke as he brought his bow up. Luke pulled back the string and lined up his shot. Luke could tell Klimmek was getting nervous, as he made certain that his aim was true. Luke pressed the trigger on the thumb release and watched as the arrow sunk into the troll's head. The troll's head snapped back and it stumbled a couple of steps before falling to the ground.

"Nice shot," praised Klimmek.

"Thanks," Luke said as he took the thumb release off and slipped it back into his pocket. Luke walked towards the troll cautiously before he stopped a couple of paces away. The chest wasn't moving and Luke walked towards the head. He pulled out the broadhead and looked at the tip in disgust. _That will take a bit to clean all that shit out,_ Luke thought as he knelt down and took his backpack off. He found a cloth and removed it from the back before standing back up. "Ready to continue?" Luke turned to ask Klimmek.

"I am," Klimmek answered as he strode forward. "I'd put your jacket on if I were you, it's about to get cold in a couple of more steps."

Luke slipped the backpack off and put the jacket Klimmek had given him on before quickly putting the backpack back on. Luke used the cloth to try and clean off the broadhead and followed Klimmek further up the path. They walked in silence for the longest time before Klimmek stopped at a stone tablet and looked up at the sky. He knelt down in front of the tablet and took time to read it before he stood back up and dusted off his knees.

"This is a good place to stop for tonight," he said. "It'll give us a good spot to set up our tents and continue back up in the morning."

Luke took time to look up at the sky and saw that the sun was getting lower toward the horizon. "I suppose you're right, we did get a bit of a late start."

Klimmek nodded and pulled off his pack and started to rummage through it before he pulled out a rolled up tent and tossed it to Luke, who gave him a quick nod in thanks and started to set up the tent as he pulled out another one from his pack. When Luke was halfway through setting up his tent, he looked up and watched in amazement, as Klimmek seemed to be able to keep pulling things out of his pack, such as firewood, a pot, food supplies, and sleeping rolls. He set the items aside and began to set up his tent as well. Klimmek felt Luke gawking at him and looked up from what he was doing and smirked. He tossed Luke a sleeping roll and asked, "Never seen an enchanted pack before?"

"No, this would be the first." Luke answered.

Klimmek chuckled and went back to what he was doing. Luke shook his head in disbelief and became completely lost in his thoughts as finished setting up his tent. He went inside the tent and laid out the sleeping bag. Luke put my backpack where one would put a pillow and turned to exit the tent. When he emerged from the tent, he saw that Klimmek had finished setting up his tent as well and was currently occupied tending a fire in between the two tents. The sky had started to turn dark and the sun was slowly fading behind the horizon. Klimmek looked up from the fire and gestured towards a log that was big enough to sit on across from him. Luke took that as invitation and sat down on it as Klimmek sat on a similar log across the fire. Klimmek set a rack above the fire and placed the kettle on top of it. Luke noticed that there was some snow in the kettle, along with some herbs and purple flower petals.

"What's with the flower petals?" Luke asked.

"The flower petals will help keep ya warm for tonight once the fire dies down," Klimmek answered. "One of the alchemic properties of the flower."

Luke pretended to understand what Klimmek was talking about by giving the older man a nod. Once the snow in the kettle had completely melted, Klimmek stirred the water and added some fish to it as well. The water started to boil and Klimmek gave a slim smile. He pulled out a bowl from his pack and scooped some of the meal into the bowl and passed it to Luke. "It's not much, but it will fill your belly and keep ya from freezing," he said.

"Thank you," Luke said appreciatively as he took the bowl from Klimmek.

"I should be thanking you, stranger," Klimmek said. "It's nice to have a traveling companion for a change." Klimmek gave a short pause and met my eyes. "I never asked you for your name, did I?"

"The name's Luke," Luke said, "Luke Porter. I probably should've introduced myself when I met you by the river."

"Did your family used to run inns?"

"Probably a long time ago, I guess the surname just stuck."

"Are you an Imperial or a Breton?"

That question caught Luke off guard and he frowned. "Excuse me?" Luke asked, uncertain of what Klimmek meant.

"Are you from High Rock or Cyrodiil?" Klimmek asked, "Although, you do look more like a Breton."

"I'd prefer not to answer that, if that's alright," Luke answered uncomfortably thinking back to how Barknar tried to pummel him back at the inn.

"That's alright," Klimmek said shrugging it off. "Just trying to make some conversation."  
"Oh."

The two men lapsed into silence as they both focused on their meal. For how simplistic it was, Luke thought it tasted pretty good. He bent down and scooped up some snow with the bowl. Luke tried to clean out the bowl as best he could before passed it back over to Klimmek, who then put it along with his bowl back into the pack. Klimmek look up at the sky and thanks to the fire, Luke could see the look of awe in his face. "I'll never get tired of that," he said.

Luke looked up at the night sky and sucked in a breath as he saw what looked like the northern lights dancing across the sky. "That's quite the sight indeed," Luke said awestruck.

"Aye, you've got that right," Klimmek said as he stood up. "I'm going to retire for the night, I suggest that you do the same."

"I will," Luke said as he too stood. "I've been meaning to ask you, what are those stones we've been passing symbolize?"

"Ah, the etched tablets," Klimmek spoke after a brief pause. "Men believe that Kyne made us at this place, the highest point of all of Tamriel, when the sky breathed onto the land. The etched tablets tell of the struggles off men as we were enslaved by the Dragons and their priests. Men were then taught about the Voice and used that power to fight back against the Dragons. Men won their freedom and a monastery was built on this mountain. Or so our legends go."

"That's quite the legend," Luke said.

"That it is," Klimmek said before he walked over to his tent. "I'll see you in the morning."

"We won't be bothered by trolls or anything else during the night?" Luke asked.

"We shouldn't, the wolves don't hunt at night and the trolls don't stray far from their caves," answered Klimmek. "During my travels I have yet to see a cave around this area. Goodnight."

"Night," Luke said as he looked around the camp before his eyes fell on the outline of the etched tablet. There was a rustle of material as Klimmek disappeared into his tent and Luke let out a sigh. He walked toward the tablet and pulled out his pocket flashlight from his pant pocket and turned it on. Luke wanted to read this tablet before he retired for the night. The bright light from the flashlight caught Luke by surprise briefly as his eyes had adjusted to the little amount of light the fire had given off. Luke blinked a couple of times before his eyes refocused back onto the table.

_Emblem IV_

_Kyne called on Paarthurnax, who pities Man_

_Together they taught Men to use the Voice_

_Then Dragon War raged, Dragon against Tongue_

Luke turned off the flashlight and went back to his tent. As soon as he climbed into the sleeping roll and his head hit his backpack, he was asleep. That night Luke dreamt of dragons soaring across the skies and men slaying men. A dragon landed in front of where Luke was observing from in the dream and turned to look at him. It opened its mouth and fire bloomed in its throat. Luke woke with a start and was met with light making its way through the tent. With a groan Luke stretched and got out of the sleeping roll. He grabbed his backpack and got out of the tent and saw that Klimmek was in the process of taking his tent down. He greeted Luke and Luke gave him a tired greeting in return. Luke followed Klimmek's lead and started to take his tent down as well. After the camp was taken down and everything stored back in Klimmek's enchanted pack, the pair headed back up the path. They walked in silence for the majority of the walk and Luke kept observing the strange terrain.

As they trekked along, a massive building made its appearance in the distance. "Is that High Hrothgar?" Luke asked.

"Aye, that's the monastery. We have about another hour before we reach it," answered Klimmek.

Luke gave a nod and bundled his jacket a little bit tighter around his torso. The food he had last night was wearing off, so he was starting to feel the cold of the mountain. After another hour of walking, Klimmek and Luke finally made it to a chest in front of the doors. Klimmek approached the chest and opened it. He placed the burlap sack of supplies into it and then closed it. He turned to look at Luke who took a deep breath of the mountain air.

"This is where we part ways for now," Luke said. "Thanks for letting me tag along."

"Thank you for accompanying me," Klimmek replied as he walked back toward Luke. He held out his right hand and Luke grasped it. "I hope that whatever it is you're looking for up here that you'll find it."

"Thank you," Luke said genuinely. "I hope that I can find answers as well."

The two men finished shaking hands and Klimmek turned to head back toward Ivarstead. Luke turned towards the monastery and headed for the doors. With a sense of trepidation, he stopped in at the door before taking a deep breath and opened the door. As he entered the monastery, the door closed behind him with a loud bang. Luke walked further into the building and stopped in the middle of a room. Hallways stretched to the left and to the right. Steps further ahead of him led to another set of doors.

Luke opened his mouth and was about to call for someone, anyone, when figures emerged from the hallways and started to walk towards him. Luke noticed that they were all wearing hooded robes. The figures formed a half circle in front of Luke and the one in the middle stepped forward. "And who are you?" the figure asked.

**Author's Note:  
A special thanks to **_**Perakeles Tandrum **_** and **_**Fatereaper**_** for the follows and thanks to everyone for giving this story a shot. I hope to hear from you guys in the reviews.**

**Sincerely,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	3. Chapter 3

"_You can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen." – __**Michelle Obama**_

**Chapter Three**

"My name is Luke," Luke answered as his eyes flickered between the hooded figures. The four figures formed a half circle in front of Luke and the one who had asked him the question stood in directly in front of Luke . "I was hoping that I could get some answers."

"What answers do you seek?" asked the man who had previously spoken.

"Where am I and how did I get here?"

"What makes you think that we have the answers that you are looking for?"

"I was told by the bartender down in Ivarstead that you would be the best chance I had at getting any answers," Luke replied. "Can you help me?"

"We might be able to help you, but first let us hear of your story."

"Er okay, but can I know what your name is?"

"My name is Arngeir," the man answered. "To my left are Master Einarth and Master Wulfgar, and to my right is Master Borri."

"Nice to meet all of you," Luke said as his eyes flickered between the four men. "Where would you like me to start?"

"Where all stories start," Arngeir answered, "at the beginning."

The corners of his mouth twitched as Luke fought the smile that wanted to emerge. Luke told the Greybeards of his hunting trip in Colorado and how he had followed the elk tracks into a cave and the events that occurred from there. Luke finished with how he had helped Klimmek deliver his supplies and that they parted ways from there. "And that brings me to you," Luke finished.

"You said that you heard a shout," Arngeir mused. "Do you remember what it said?"

"Yah Dovahkiin, I believe," Luke answered. "Do you know what that means?"

"The shout you heard was in the language of the dragons," said Arngeir. "Yah translates to the common tongue as _seek_, while dovahkiin translates to dragonborn"

"What's a dragonborn?"

"They have the body of a mortal and the soul of a dragon, it is a gift bestowed by Akatosh himself," Arngeir said with a tone of reverence. "They have mastery of the Thu'um that is unmatched by any mortal and only second to that of a dragon."

"Thu'um?" Luke asked.

"Thu'um is a form of magic that utilizes the dragon language," Arngeir answered. The look of disbelief on Luke's face must've been slightly amusing to Arngeir as his eyes crinkled in mirth. Arngeir turned to one of the other men and said, "Master Borri if you would please demonstrate for our skeptic here."

Borri took a step back and opened his mouth, "_Yol._" A small burst of flame shot from Borri's mouth and Luke's eyes widened in shock. The Greybeard took a step back into formation and Arngeir met Luke's eyes. "That is just a small display of what the Thu'um can do."

"What other powers does the Thu'um have and why haven't any of the other Greybeards said anything?"

"If they were to try and converse with you, you would be killed instantly," Arngeir said bluntly. "And other powers of the Thu'um are ones that you must find for yourself, if you have the aptitude for it."

"So why can you have a conversation with me and not kill me?" Luke asked but thought, _How the hell would I know if I have the aptitude for the Thu'um?_

"I can speak both the common tongue and the dragon tongue," Arngeir said. "The others know only the dragon tongue."

"Okay, now that I have the history lesson out of the way, can you help me get home?"

"We have no knowledge on how to transport people across time or to a different world," Arngeir said with an annoyed expression, but a level tone. "But we can give you sanctuary if you would like to stay here."

_I don't have anywhere else to go,_ Luke thought. _I don't have anywhere else to go. I might as well stay here for a bit until I can figure this shit out._ "That's kind of you to offer, I'd like to accept."

"Then let me show you to your room," Arngeir said as the other Greybeards started to disperse. Arngeir gestured for the younger man to follow him, who obliged. He took a turn towards the hallway that he had come from and walked to the end of it. Arngeir turned to look at Luke and said, "Follow the stairs and you will have the chambers that the stairs lead and those chambers will be yours."

"Thank you Master Arngeir," Luke said sincerely.

"If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask," he said as he turned back around before heading back to the main room.

Luke walked up the stairs and opened the door at the top. The room was a large circle with a bed in the middle. The bed looked close to a full size bed and a chest at the foot of the bed. There was a wardrobe by a window across from the entrance and a desk on the other side of the window. To Luke's left was a bookcase filled with books and that's where he went to first. Luke was interested to see what kind of literature that was found in his new reality. He set his backpack and bow on the ground as he crouched in front of the bookcase. There were ten books on the shelf and about half of them were "Spell Tomes". The other books were labeled "Brief History of the Empire", and "The Oblivion Crisis".

Luke grabbed the four books labeled "Brief History of the Empire" first and headed towards the desk. Luke sat down and started to read. He read until the room started to get dark and looked outside the window to see that the sun was starting to set. Luke looked at all the lanterns around the room and went back to his backpack. He pulled a lighter out and started to light all the lanterns so that he would be able to keep reading. Luke grabbed "The Oblivion Crisis" and walked back to the desk. Once he sat down, Luke thought over what he had read about this Empire. This empire from Cyrodiil was a lot like the Roman Empire, with just about as much myth surrounding its rise. Tiber Septim was quite the mythical figure, in Luke's opinion. Tiber connected to these Dragonborn that the Greybeards were talking about, not to mention the fact he became a god after he died. From what Luke had gathered from the books, people readily mixed mythology and history, not unlike what happened back home.

Luke moved on to "The Oblivion Crisis" and towards the end, felt like this was more of a myth. Even less believable than Tibet Septim becoming Talos, the Oblivion Crisis was taking the cake. There was no feasible way that a deity could manifest in a world and fight another in Luke's mind. With a couple of blinks, Luke looked out the window and to watch the lights dance across the night sky. _If there is one bright side to this situation, it is watching the beauty of this night sky compared to home,_ he thought before standing up. Luke's muscles groaned in protest from having spent the majority of his day sitting on his ass and reading. He walked around the room to turn the lanterns off and headed to the bed. Luke's dreams were once again plagued by dragons and war as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

Luke woke the next morning and was once again confused as to where he was, until the memories of the last two days came rushing back to the forefront of his mind. Luke stretched in the bed before rolling onto his side and swinging his legs onto the floor. Luke rubbed his eyes to clear the last vestige of weariness. There was a nock at the door and he yelled, "Come in."

Master Arngeir opened the door and looked at Luke with an amused expression. "Up late into the night where we?"

"Yes sir," answered Luke. "What time is it?"

"Just past noon," said Arngeir. "Have you found any answers in your readings?"

"A bit. These books read more like fiction than fact. A man doesn't become a god and there isn't any feasible way that two deities can manifest and fight one another."

"You're not a believer in the Divines?"

"I wasn't even a believer in the God where I come from. I don't think that they exist, but I won't try to argue that point with anyone who believes, it's not my business to know what others believe in."

"Your time in Tamriel might change your view on things if you keep an open mind," Arngeir said. "Have you thought about what you are going to do here in Skyrim or even Nirn?"

"I keep trying to figure out where _here_ is," Luke muttered, before saying a bit louder, "No, I haven't thought about it honestly. I just want to get as much information about where I am as possible."

Arngeir glanced around the room and paused on the bookshelf, before his eyes met Luke's again. "You haven't touched the Spell Tomes I see," he said. "Those would give you wonderful information."

"How would I be able to tell if I can even perform any of those spells that are over there? In my world, magic is just parlor tricks and illusions meant to fool you so the magicians can make a quick buck."

"A quick buck?" Arngeir asked with a confused look.

"It means make money."

"My advice would be to read the tome and follow the directions given. If you follow the directions and you feel something, it means you can perform the spell."

"I don't follow."

"If you focus on the flow of magicka in your body and connect with it, you will be able to perform the spell you had just read," Arngeir paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "Your ability to tap into your magicka pool will give you an ability that many have but cannot connect with, to perform spells. Although to be honest, I'm not the best when it comes to performing spells and incantations, and I would make for a poor teacher in that subject."

"What can you teach me?" Luke asked.

"We can teach you the Way of the Voice," Arngeir replied. "For that is a subject I know most about. The tomes will teach you the spells."

"When can I start?"

"Tomorrow if that suits you."

"That works for me."

Arngeir turned to leave the room and stopped briefly to look over his shoulder at Luke. "Do you need anything to eat?"

"I should have some rations left in my pack," Luke answered. "Thank you for asking."

"You are a guest here at High Hrothgar, it would be rude not to offer you anything," Arngeir said indifferently before he left.

Luke stood up and walked over to his backpack and rummaged through it until he found the spell tome that he had found in the cave when he had first arrived in Skyrim. _Magicka huh, what kind of strange world have I been dropped into? Empires, evil elves, and magic, sounds like a fantasy story for sure but elves are usually one of the good guys helping the race of men to advance themselves, not trying to enslave or eradicate them._ _Maybe when I get back I can write a story about my experiences here and pass it off as fictitious._ Luke pulled it out of his backpack along with a protein bar before walking back to the desk and sat down. Luke unwrapped the protein bar and started to thumb through the pages. As he concentrated on what the tome was teaching him, he unconsciously started to move the fingers on his left hand around in circles. Luke felt a slight tingle in his fingertips, almost as if his hand had fallen asleep but still without the discomfort. The smell of ozone started to permeate the room and the tingling sensation became stronger. Luke looked down at his hand and let out a yelp when he saw sparks dancing between his fingertips. Luke shook his arm and as it shook, it extended out and a blast of lightning shot from his hand. The lightning struck the wall across from him and left a scorch mark on the bricks. Luke felt a little bit drained and blinked a couple of times.

Any trace of skepticism had vanished from Luke witnessed the lightning shoot from his hand, and he became determined to replicate the experience. Luke kept trying for a handful of minutes before starting to feel the same sensations again and was able to shoot of another bolt of lightning. Luke took some deep breaths and looked around the room before focusing back on the tome and continued reading through it. Luke found out that the reason it took a couple of minutes for him to conjure another lightning bolt was that each spell cast took a toll on the caster's magicka pool. The more a caster practiced, the larger his pool would grow and the more times he could cast either the same spell or more advanced ones. The more that he read from the tome, the more excitement Luke started to feel. Why he felt that way, Luke wouldn't be able to explain. He waited for a minute less than he had last time, and tried casting the spell again. The results were once again the same as before and Luke felt a smile coming to his face. Luke stood up and walked towards the bookshelf and his smile grew as he surveyed the tomes. Luke picked up a two more spell tomes and hastily brought them to the desk. By the time the sun was approaching the horizon, Luke had learned how to cast lightning, summon a sword, and cast a spell called candlelight. He had also learned that there were five schools of magic: alteration, restoration, conjuration, illusion, and destruction. There were benefits to each school and drawbacks as well, but Luke felt determined to learn all that he could before his time in Skyrim ended.

There was a nock on the bedroom door once again and Luke turned to face the door from the desk. Arngeir came through the door and frowned when he saw the far wall. "I see that you have discovered that you can cast spells," he said evenly.

"That I have," Luke replied giddily. "How can I help you, Master Arngeir?"

"I was just coming to check on you," Arngeir replied. "Is there anything that you need at the moment?'

"What day is it? What are your days of the week and months in the year?" Luke asked.

"That wasn't what I was expecting at all," mused Arngeir. "But to answer your first question, it is the Tenth of Mid Year, year two hundred and one of the fourth era. There are seven days in a week and they are Morndas, Tirdas, Middas, Turdas, Fredas, Loredas, and Sundas. There are twelve months in a year and they are called Morning Star, Sun's Dawn, First Seed, Rain's Hand, Second Seed, Mid Year, Sun's Height, Last Seed, Hearthfire, Frost Fall, Sun's Dusk, and Evening Star. What are they called in your home?"

"We have seven days a week and twelve months in a year as well. The days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The months are January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December," Luke answered. "So it's relatively the same here as it was at home. We don't keep track of eras per say, but more of a common era and before the common era."

"Common era and before, what differs from the common era and before it?"

"Depending on who you ask, the common era began when the son of God was born, so that would be year zero," Luke answered. "Before that time is a more difficult time period because the years count down to zero and after the Son of God was born, the years started to count up."

"What do you mean depending on who I ask, you're the only one that I can ask. You mentioned a son of God?"

"Yup, Jesus Christ is the name given to him," Luke answered feeling a bit uneasy, considering that he was an atheist. "It's a bit hard for me to explain the religion, since it is one of many from my realm."

"There isn't an agreed upon religion?"

"Nope, everyone has different views, and most wars throughout the course of the history there have been fought in the name of one religion or another." Luke answered as he shifted in his seat.

"I can tell that this isn't very comfortable for you to answer," Arngeir said, "I apologize."

"It's fine," Luke waved off. "Is there a place that I can get some water? I'm parched."

"Follow me."

An hour later, Luke returned to the room he had been given after sating his thirst and getting some hot food into his belly. The sun had completely set, but Luke used that as a time to practice the candlelight spell. It was a pretty handy spell that allowed him to conserve the batteries that were in his pocket light. He had tried to conjure a sword once more before retiring for the night. Luke held the sword in my right hand and felt the edge with his left. It was pretty dull and Luke suspected that with practice the sword would get sharp. Luke dropped the sword and watched it disappear in a purple flash. Luke went to lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling waiting for sleep to claim him as his eyelids slowly dropped.

_Luke looked around his surroundings and squinted as a bright golden light illuminated the area that he was in. Luke took a couple of steps forward and called out for anyone. There was a loud thud and the ground shook with the force of whatever had landed. The golden light got brighter before fading to reveal a dragon standing in front of him. The dragon regarded Luke with golden eyes that were filled with amusement. _

"_So, you are the mortal that I summoned?" the dragon said in a deep rich voice. "I've been trying to get your attention for days now!"_

"_What?" Luke asked. "Who are you?"_

"_I have had many names throughout history, but only a few that men and mer have known. Many refer to me as Akatosh," the dragon answered with an amused tone._

"_You're the god that Arngeir spoke of yesterday," Luke said as he frowned. "He said that you created dragons and the dragonborn."_

"_Aye, I created the dovah and the dovahkiin. The time is coming where the World Eater will appear before mortals once again and the time of the Last Dragonborn is upon this realm. I need you to help them out once they finds out what they are."_

"_And what would a person as powerful as the dragonborn need me for if all the stories about their kind is true?" Luke felt compelled to ask._

"_To keep them focused and to keep them alive."_

"_Why did you choose me? Why not someone from your realm, why did you have to pull me away from mine?"_

"_I saw your character and I witnessed your bravery and dedication to your comrades." Akatosh said and Luke tensed up a little. Akatosh noticed and tilted his head, "Are you not proud of your actions in your war?"_

"_I don't think that any person should be proud of the lives that they've taken," Luke said icily. "I am proud that I could save lives of my brothers in arms and limit casualties."_

"_Apologies," Akatosh apologized as he dipped his great head. "I am used to Nords being proud of all actions that could allow them access into Shor's Hall."_

"_Why should I accept this? Could you just send me home!?" _

"_I'm afraid that I am unable to send you back as long as the threat from the World Eater exists," Akatosh said with a shake of his head._

"_So I'm stuck here to be a pawn of yours?" Luke seethed._

"_You don't need to help the Last Dragonborn, but it would be appreciated."_

"_Right… that sounds real convincing."_

"_If it helps, you won't remember this conversation when you wake. You won't remember until you meet the Last Dragonborn. Even then, it'll be bits and pieces of the conversation. To help you out, I have blessed you with the ability to learn and master the Thu'um, as well as the ability to learn spells at an accelerated rate."_

"_That's very generous of you," Luke said sarcastically. "What's stopping me from just staying at High Hrothgar until your dragonborn defeats this world eater?"_

"_Nothing, you do have the capacity of free will after all," Akatosh said as he started to fade. "Good luck Dezheim, and beware of the First!"_

"_Wait! God damn it!" Luke yelled. "I still have questions!"_

"_All in time," Akatosh said faintly. "Now wake, mortal."_

**Author's Note:****  
A special thanks to **_vampireorange, Petra Ikura, _**and **_Daburus _**for the follows. I appreciate the support. **

_**Dez**_** = Fate  
**_**Heim**_** = Forge **

**So Dezheim I have taken liberties to create Fate forger. If I got this wrong from the language of the dragons, please let me know. **

**Until the next time,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	4. Chapter 4

"_If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." – __**Neil Peart**_

**Chapter Four**

Two weeks had passed since Luke had arrived at High Hrothgar, and with his time spent training with Master Arngeir, his skill with the Thu'um was increasing in leaps and bounds. His progress with the Thu'um was definitely putting Master Arngeir on edge, as he grumbled something under his breath every time that Luke succeeded in his training regimen. Luke was also increasing his magicka pool little by little every day as well. He had been able to master the lightning bolt, fireball, and fast healing spells. Luke found out that conjuration magic was definitely his weakest link, as any sword that he tried to summon was duller than a butter knife and any familiar or atronach he tried to summon disappeared as soon as it came into existence. The only alteration that Luke could accomplish was mage light and candlelight, other than those two spells, alteration was pretty much as useless as conjuration was.

As much as Luke was learning at High Hrothgar, he couldn't help but feel as if he had developed cabin fever. Luke felt the need to go out and do something, anything really, as he grew bored of staring at the same walls and people day in and day out. He felt he had done enough of that in his life back on Earth. Luke packed up everything that he had and slung the backpack over his shoulders as he gazed around the room one last time. A part of him was going to miss this place; it was a place that had taken him in despite not knowing anything about his past or him. Luke turned to face the door and jumped in shock when he saw that Master Arngeir was already standing in the doorway. Master Arngeir took a glance around the room and saw that everything was tidied up and that Luke was ready to head out.

"So, you've decided to leave during your training," said Arngeir with disappointment.

"I have," Luke said mentally steeling himself for this conversation. "It's nothing against your way of life or living here, it's just that I need to be able to keep moving. I don't like staying in once place for longer than I'd like to."

"It is your decision and I cannot stop you, although I wish that you reconsider," Arngeir said evenly.

"Thank you for the words that you have taught me and for ways to calm my mind," Luke said sincerely. "It has given me the best sleep that I've had in years."

Arngeir's eyes softened a bit and he stepped out of the doorway. "Remember, Sky above Voice within."

Another day had passed and Luke was once again crossing the bridge into Ivarstead. He got the same distrusting looks from the same farmer that had been the first person he had encountered when he had first arrived in this world. Luke gave her a nod and kept trekking up the road to the inn. Luke stopped in front of the door to Vilemyr Inn and was about to open it when he heard his name called. Luke turned around and saw Klimmek standing there.

"Hello Klimmek," Luke greeted.

"By Shor's beard, I didn't think that I would see you back in Ivarstead anytime soon," Klimmek responded.

"Why's that?" asked Luke.

"Well, after the first week that you were up there and no sign of you returning, I figured that you had decided to become a monk!" Klimmek answered shaking his head.

Luke chuckled and said, "Trust me, becoming a monk is not in my future. I merely had to gather my wits and the Greybeards were kind enough to let me stay with them."

"What was it like inside of High Hrothgar?" asked Klimmek. "I've always wanted to go inside, but I haven't been allowed."

"It was grand, yet simple," Luke answered. "Why aren't you allowed in? Why couldn't you just open the doors?"

"Open the doors and upset the Greybeards? I think not!" Klimmek cried. "Only those summoned by the Greybeards can enter their halls, that hasn't happened since Ulfric Stormcloak himself was taken in and trained in they Way of the Voice when he was but a child."

"Then why was I allowed entry?" Luke frowned. "Or better yet, why didn't you tell me this before I went up with you?"

"I thought that you had been summoned by the Greybeards to train with them," Klimmek answered.  
"I wasn't summoned by them, I just thought they had answers to questions I was asking."

"Did you find your answers?" Klimmek said changing the subject.

Luke's eyes narrowed as he replied, "No, the Greybeards couldn't answer them. In fact, I don't think that anyone can answer them. Is there anything that I can help you out with, Klimmek?"

"No, there is not. If you were going into Vilemyr, be careful Barknar is inside and I don't think that he'll be happy to see your face again."

"I don't care if he's happy to see my face again or not," Luke said as he turned back towards the inn. "Take care Klimmek."

"You too, lad."

Luke opened the door to the inn and took in the quiet chatter amongst the patrons. Once the door closed behind him, the chatter stopped and everyone turned to look to see who the new comer was. Everyone turned and went back to their conversations once they saw that it was Luke, and Luke continued his walk towards the bar. Wilhelm was cleaning out a mug and looked up as Luke approached him. Wilhelm's eyes widened and he quickly looked back down at the mug in his hands and started to furiously scrub at it. Luke stopped in front of him and cleared his throat.

"What is it that you want stranger?" Wilhelm asked.

"I was wondering if I could rent a room for a day," Luke answered. Then as a conversation starter he said, "I was also wondering if you had any information on the burrow by Klimmek's house."

"That burrow is haunted! I'd stay away from it if I were you, stranger," Wilhelm answered, his eyes turning fearful. "I've seen the ghost with my own eyes! Its eyes seemed to pierce into my very soul."

Luke rolled his eyes and asked, "Has the ghost been sighted in the town?"

"No, it stays at the burrow," Wilhelm said finally making eye contact with Luke. "I think that it's guarding the burrow."

_Right, I suppose no matter what world or realm a person goes to there's a population that think ghosts are real. What's next? Aliens?_ Luke thought. "Thank you for your time," Luke said.

"Your room is to your right."

"How much do I owe you?"

"Ten gold."

Luke slipped ten gold out of his pocket and handed it over to Wilhelm. As Luke turned around he saw Barknar glaring at him from a corner table. Luke turned toward the room that Wilhelm had indicated was his for the day and did his best to ignore the daggers coming from Barknar's eyes. Once Luke got to the room he noticed that there were two beds in the room. Across from the bed on the far right, was a table that had a coin purse and some loose gold sitting on it. Luke walked over to the bed that was on the left and set his backpack on it. When he turned back around to exit the room he found Barknar standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing back here, you milk drinker?" he demanded.

"I am trying to relax a little bit and enjoy this lovely day," Luke answered calmly. "I am also planning to look for work in this area so that I can make a bit of coin and then I might go hunting."

"Cut the bullshit, Imp," snapped Barknar. "I don't like you here, and neither do the rest of us!"

"I told you last time, I know nothing about the empire you're referring to," Luke said still calm, although it was a half-truth since he read up on the history of said empire during his time at High Hrothgar. "If you'd like to have a civilized discussion, I am more than willing."

Barknar narrowed his eyes and took a step forward into the room. "This coming from the stranger who broke my wrist? Now you want to have a discussion?"

"Well, in my defense you did swing first," Luke said. "So let us avoid a repeat, shall we? I have other business that I would like to attend to."

"You ain't going anywhere until I get answers out of you, stranger."

_Well, at least he's stopped calling me an Imperial_, Luke thought wryly. "I'm going to ask you this nicely," he said. "Are you sure you want to do this again?"

Barknar smirked and shrugged the bow off his back and nocked an arrow. "This is going to go differently than last time, stranger."

"So, you're going to shoot me?" Luke said raising his voice. The chatter stopped from the dining part of the inn and there were sounds of chairs shuffling back and feet rushing towards the room. Luke made eye contact with Barknar as a crowd formed outside the room. "I just want to go about my day."

Barknar quickly glanced behind his shoulder and then looked back at Luke. "Think that's clever," he spat. "I feel like this is justified seeing as you broke my wrist and refuse to answer any of my questions!"

"You threw the first punch," Luke pointed out. "And from what I see, your wrist is healed up. I've answered your questions, it isn't my fault you don't like the answers."

Luke took a short breath when he heard calls for the guards as Barknar drew back the bowstring.

"I'm asking you one last time, stranger! What are you doing in Ivarstead?" Barknar snarled.

"I told you, I'm looking for some work and to go hunting later. I need to restock on my provisions. I'm sure a man such as yourself can understand that," Luke answered. "Besides, I want to check out that burrow across the street."

A few startled gasps came from the crowd at the last part of Luke's answer and Barknar scowled. "That isn't good enough!" he hissed.

"Fine, have it your way," said Luke.

"Oh, I think I will. Enjoy Oblivion, stranger!"

"ZUN HAAL VIIK!" Luke shouted. Barknar's bow went flying from his grasp and he stumbled back a few steps. More gasps and yells of surprise went up from the gathered crowd and they all took large steps away from the room. Barknar shook his head and looked at Luke in shock.

"It can't be! That isn't possible!" he said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that it is possible seeing as it just happened," Luke said darkly as he strode towards Barknar. "It's amazing what the Greybeards were able to teach me in the two weeks I lived with them, isn't it?"

"You were able to learn to use Thu'um?" Barknar squeaked as he stumbled back more steps, desperately trying to give himself more space.

"I only know a few words," Luke answered. "Just things that will be of practical usage. Like disarming twats just like you."

The door to the inn burst open and two men and a woman stormed through the door and into the inn. They wore chainmail armor with purple leather jerkins over the top. Each one had a purple wooden shield with two crossed swords on the face of it, and each one had a weapon drawn.

"What is going on here?" the woman demanded.

"Ju…just a verbal disagreement," Barknar stuttered.

"If that were the case, why were we called?" the woman snapped back. "We were told that you were going to shoot somebody."

"That would be me," Luke chimed in. "I'd call it unprovoked."

"Why would this man threaten to shoot you?" the guardswoman asked.

"He wasn't satisfied with the answers I was giving him. He keeps accusing me of being an Imperial spy, which I can guarantee you that I am not. I told him that the only reason that I'm here in Ivarstead is that I am looking for work and to hunt around this area as well."

"I can confirm the stranger's words," a surprising voice spoke up.

Lynly stepped forward from the crowd and said, "Barknar is just bitter that this man beat him in a fight a couple of weeks ago before going to see the Greybeards."

The inn became so silent; a pin would've been able to be heard. "Alright, miss if you and this Barknar can come with us, we would like to ask you some questions," the guardswoman said. She turned to look at Luke and said, "Sir, you are free to go about your day, if we have any questions we will leave a note for you here at the inn."

"Sounds good to me, thank you ma'am," Luke said with a slight nod.

The crowd started to disperse as the two guardsmen walked towards Barknar and each grabbed an arm. Surprisingly, Barknar didn't say a word as the guardsmen led him out of the inn. Luke walked back to the room and picked up his compound bow. He then went back to where Wilhelm was and gave him a couple of more septims. "Sorry for the trouble," Luke told him as he went to the exit. Luke stopped at the threshold of the door and rubbed his face before letting out a small sigh.

Luke walked up the steps leading to the burrow and took a quick look around before he started to look for the entrance. Once Luke found it, he cautiously opened the door and made his way down the corridor until he reached an area with a fork. To his left was an open doorway and to the right was a gate blocking the way. Luke paused and took note of the mummified remains standing up in some of the cutouts in the walls. "Leave this place!" Luke heard. He swung around and faced the gated doorway. A spectral being stood there and Luke thought, _Well, I might be damned here. Is this what Wilhelm saw?_ "Leave this place!" the specter said again before turning to walk away.

Luke went back to the room that was open and noticed a pair of levers on each side of the doorway once he turned around. Luke pulled a combination of levers and cursed when small darts shot out of the wall and miraculously missed him. He looked up and noticed that a gate had closed in front of him and the gate he was trying to open remained closed as well. Luke tried another combination, and then another until the gates were opened. He looked back the way that he had entered and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the way was still clear.

Luke followed where he saw the specter head towards and swore when he saw two gates blocking his way. He noticed a chain to the side and cautiously pulled it. Luke waited a couple of seconds and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened except for the gates opening. As he walked down the stairs Luke noticed that there was a door ahead of him and a door to his right. Luke opened the door to his right first and frowned when he saw the long hallway with an engraved wall at the end. Luke walked down the doorway and looked at the engraved wall in front of him. There were carvings on three rings above a claw shaped center hole.

_A butterfly, an owl, and a wolf?_ Luke thought as he looked at the rings. He pushed one ring and it moved to reveal another wolf head. _So, these are like some type of combination… no idea what this is so I'll check out the other door._

Luke walked back through the hallway and headed towards the other closed door. Luke slowly opened it only to be met once again with the specter from earlier. "You shouldn't have come here!" it snapped as it drew a dagger from its belt. Luke retreated a few steps as the specter charged at him and dodged out of the way at the last second to avoid the dagger slipping in between his ribs.

"I don't want any trouble," Luke said as he once again dodged out of the way. "I was just looking around."

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE!" the specter roared.

"Please don't make me kill you," Luke whispered as the specter let out a guttural roar and charged once again.

Luke let lightning build up in his left hand and a fire build up in his right before shooting them at the charging figure. The specter let out a cry of pain as the firebolt connected first, followed quickly by the lightning bolt. Luke quickly shot off two more lightning bolts and the specter collapsed onto the floor. The etherealness faded from the specter to reveal what Luke could only describe as a dark elf. Luke let the flow of magicka come to a stop and lowered his arms. Luke focused on slowing his breathing before trying to do anything else.

Luke looked away from the dead body and his eyes gravitated to a table that had a deep blue phial and a couple of books on it. He walked over to it and picked up the phial and turned open the cover of a book bound in red leather. His eyes widened as he read what had been written into it, now obvious that this was a journal of the elf he had just killed. With a sigh Luke picked up the journal and headed back out of the burrow.

Luke opened the door to Vilemyr Inn and walked over to Wilhelm at the bar. "I think I've solved your ghost problem," Luke said sliding the journal over to the barkeep.

"I can't believe this... It was all just a fabrication of this Wyndelius character?" Wilhelm breathed out in shock. "I can't believe we were so stupid. Well, least I can do is give you something for taking care of him. If you won't accept it as a payment, consider it a gift."

Wilhelm slid Luke something over the top of the bar and he looked down at what it was. Before him was something golden and claw shaped with three deep sapphire blue talons. There were three small engravings on it that looked like they were from the burrow Luke had just come from. He looked up at Wilhelm and asked, "What is this?"

"I have no idea what it is or where it came from," Wilhelm answered. "All I know is that it's been in my family for generations now and has something to do with the burrow. Whatever it is, it is now yours."

"I don't know if I can accept this," Luke said trying to meet Wilhelm's eyes. "I killed a man and you're giving me this as payment?"

"I'm sure you killed that man in self defense," Wilhelm said nonchalantly. "And it isn't payment, it is a gift, so I won't be taking it back."

"It's a family heirloom, doesn't that mean something?" Luke asked.

"No it doesn't lad," Wilhelm answered with a sad smile. "I was never close to my family and have no intention of starting one of my own, so in a way I look at this as passing it on to someone who might appreciate its beauty."

"Well, um, thank you," Luke said with sincerity.

Wilhelm waved it off and went back to cleaning mugs behind the bar. Luke went to the room he had rented out and grabbed his backpack. He slung the backpack over his shoulders and headed out of the inn once more towards the burrow. Luke had a feeling that the sapphire claw Wilhelm had just given to him had something to do with the wall with the carved rings that he had encountered before running into that Wyndelius guy. Another ten minutes passed and Luke found himself once again standing in front of the massive door with the carvings. Luke looked closer at the wall and saw that there were three smaller indents that the talon tips fit perfectly into.

Luke quickly pulled the claw back out and expected something to happen and sighed when nothing did. A light went off in Luke's head and he looked eagerly at the three engravings on the claw. "A wolf on the bottom, an owl in the middle, and a butterfly on top," Luke mused out loud. He looked up at the door and adjusted the rings so that they matched the claw. Luke inserted the claw back into its holes and gave it a small twist.

There was a loud cracking noise followed by some creaking and Luke quickly pulled the claw from the stone. Before Luke knew what had happened, a portion of the wall started to sink into the floor and reveal another pathway. Luke followed the path until he came to a room with four sarcophagi and another door at the end. He approached the door only for it to close in his face and the doorway he had just entered to have a gate close itself as well, trapping Luke in the room. Loud popping noises were heard as two of the sarcophagi lids flew off and half decayed things to slowly creep out of.

"Oh shit," Luke cursed under his breath as two sets of pale blue eyes looked at him. "This is some real White Walker bull shit." Luke loosed firebolt after firebolt at the two mummy looking things and breathed out a sigh of relief as they fell to the ground unmoving and burning. That relief was short lived as the remaining two sarcophagi lids flew off and two more mummies came out. Luke repeated what he had just done with the other two. One managed to get a blast of ice off at Luke before crumpling to the ground. The blast of ice narrowly missed Luke and he heard the sound of a gate opening. Luke turned to his right and saw that there was a room with a lever in it. He went into the room to pull the lever as cautiously as he could at this point.

Luke pulled the lever and heard the sound of gates opening and peaked out the room to see that both of the gates that had closed were now open again. Luke went to the room he had been heading towards and saw a large urn next to the entryway of a spiral staircase. Luke opened the top of the lid expecting to see ashes or human remains and pleasantly surprised to see three septims and what looked to be an amethyst. Luke grabbed the gold and the amethyst before making my way up the stairs, where yet another ironclad door blocked the way.

Luke opened the door and looked down at the floor to see what looked like pressure plates. He cautiously navigated his way around those and further down the hallway to an enormous room with large wooden stairs. Luke warily moved forward towards a wooden barricade and looked on in shock as he saw walking skeletons on the floor below. There was a purplish sheen to the floor where the skeletons were walking and Luke let loose a firebolt. The purple part of the floor erupted into flames and the skeletons that were caught up in the fire collapsed to the ground in a crumpled mess of bone.

With all the commotion he had just made, the sound of three sarcophagi lids blowing off once again permeated the room. Luke looked across the way and saw three more of the mummies wandering around. He gripped his compound bow tightly in his left hand and pulled one of the arrows out of the quiver and nocked it. Forgoing the trigger release Luke pulled back the bowstring and aimed for the head of the one furthest to his left. He let the arrow fly and quickly nocked a second arrow and took aim at the mummy in the middle just as the first collapsed onto the ground. The other two mummies walked over to the one that had fallen and Luke shot another in the head. The last remaining mummy looked over at where he was standing and gave a guttural cry as it ran down the stairs to charge toward me. Luke let the mummy climb the stairs that led to him and fired when he got it in direct line of sight. The mummy crumpled to the ground ten paces away from Luke with an arrow lodged in its skull.

Luke gathered his arrows as he walked through the room to yet another door. _How many fucking doors are in this place? And what the hell is up with all these mummies? Is this more of a tomb than anything and how the hell is it so well lit in here? Who tends to the lights?_ Luke thought. Once he emerged through the hallway Luke got at least one of the answers to a question he had posed himself. _It's a tomb._ Luke shot as many firebolts as he could at any mummy that he saw and cursed when there was a rumbling of multiple mummies awakening from their slumber. Those mummies were quickly cut down with either lightning or fire as Luke moved along to the next part of the burrow. He was surprised to see a waterfall and running water in the room and stairs only leading up to a ledge on his right. There looked to be a drawbridge on the left side, and Luke wondered how in the hell he was going to get it down. Luke climbed the stairs and saw four stone pillars and yet another door with a pressure plate in front of it. Each pillar had an animal engraved on its three sides upon closer inspection, and each pillar had the same three animals; a snake, a whale, and an eagle. Luke opened the door only to be thrown back by yet another mummy. Luke landed on his back and felt the air get driven out of his lungs. He shook his head and quickly burned the mummy until it stopped advancing towards him. Luke slowly got up when it became apparent that another mummy wasn't going to come through that door, and as soon as he caught his breath as well. There was another pressure plate sitting in the middle of the room and four door looking cutouts in the walls. The middle left was open as well as the one on the far right. Coincidently, or maybe by design, the doors lined up with the pillars on the other side of the door. Luke looked inside the open doorways and took note of the animals that were shown. He went back to the pillars and adjusted the middle left and the far right to match the doors that were open. With a smile Luke walked to the pressure plate in the room and stood on it. The doors slowly turned to hide the doorways that had been opened and revealed the carvings behind the doors that had been closed. He took another note of what animals they were and once more went to adjust the pillars that corresponded with. Luke stood on the pressure plate and faced the drawbridge and felt his smile grow larger as it fell in front of him.

Crossing the drawbridge Luke came to an abrupt stop when he noticed a tripwire in front of him. Luke shot a firebolt at it and quickly moved to the side. Luke peered beyond the edge of the wall he had hidden behind and saw rocks fall from the ceiling and roll down some stairs. Luke climbed the stairs and saw a table at the far wall with engravings on the wall above it. There was a bow resting on the table and he picked it up with his right hand, it was surprisingly heavier than he thought it would be. Luke slung the bow over his shoulders so that it rested on his back, along with his compound bow. Luke took another look at the engravings on the wall and they reminded him of Egyptian hieroglyphics, except it was telling a story instead of words. There was a man in the middle holding two staffs, each with a dragonhead adorned on the top of it, and people giving him offerings on either side of him. With a shrug Luke turned toward the large door at the bottom of the stairs and opened it slowly. The first thing that he noticed was that there were more sarcophagi and water coming out of the walls like waterfalls in the room. Two sarcophagi immediately popped open upon entry into the room. Luke dispatched two skeletons and two more sarcophagi opened, once again he dispatched the two skeletons and moved further into the room. That happened once again until mummies started to emerge instead of skeletons. Luke could tell that he was running low on magicka dread started to run through his veins when he noticed that there were still three sarcophagi left. Luke bent down and grabbed a sword from one of the fallen mummies and two more sarcophagi lids blew open. He used the last of my magicka to dispatch one and the sword to clumsily dispatch the other. The last lid came off and Luke turned with the dread freezing in his veins as another mummy emerged from the sarcophagus at the top of the mini pyramid.

Its icy blue eyes met Luke's eyes as it finished climbing out of its tomb. "FUS RO DA!" it shouted and Luke went flying back into a pillar and sliding down into the water. He came to the surface as adrenaline replaced the dread pumping through his veins. Luke gazed up at the mummy as it slowly made its way down the steps to where he had fallen. With a grunt, Luke heaved himself out of the water and could feel his magicka building back up. _Should be enough for two firebolts_, Luke thought to himself. He quickly fired off two firebolts in quick succession before his magicka pool was once again drained and he charged at the mummy. Only one firebolt connected with the mummy as the other missed by the narrowest of margins. The mummy let out what Luke could only assume was a cry of pain as it slowly started to burn and glared at him hatefully with its dead eyes. As Luke came within striking distance of the mummy, it brought its sword down with a vengeance and he managed to block it with his sword.

"ZUN HAAL VIIK!" Luke shouted and when the sword didn't go flying from the mummy's hand, Luke felt the cold dread run through him once again.

The mummy let out a bone chilling laugh as it pushed Luke away with strength unimaginable from something that has been dead for at least a few centuries. Luke gripped the hilt of the sword and braced himself as the mummy once again closed in. Luke tried to dodge as much as he could whenever he could, only engaging with the sword if there were no other choice. For being undead, the mummy moved with a speed and dexterity that it shouldn't have been capable of. Luke would wince whenever the mummy's sword gave him shallow cuts where he wasn't able to meet its blade in time or where he wasn't able to dodge in time. Luke's magicka pool had refilled at this point, but the mummy wasn't giving Luke enough time or space to get a spell off. _Come on, what other shouts did Arngeir teach me! Come on god damn it! _ Luke thought furiously. A light suddenly went of in his head as words came to him. Luke locked blades with the mummy and shouted, "YOL!"

Fire erupted from Luke's mouth and engulfed the mummy's head. He disengaged and lunged with his sword as the mummy flailed about. He ran the mummy through its torso until the crossguard rested against the decaying sternum. The blue eyes dimmed and flickered before finally going out as the mummy went limp. Luke shoved it away with his waning strength and the sword came out without a sound. As he slumped down onto the ground completely exhausted, Luke dropped the sword and tried to think of a restoration spell. He gathered the magicka into both hands and a soft golden glow encompassed his body. Luke could feel the cuts closing and the aches dissipating as he sat on the ground. After sitting for who knows how long Luke lifted himself up with a grunt. He looked down at his clothes and frowned at all the cuts and tears that had come about due to this foray into the burrow. He would definitely need something with better protection if he were to stay safe in Skyrim.

Luke unsteadily walked back up to where the top sarcophagus was and up the wooden ramp. He followed the corridor until it opened up into a large room. The first thing that he saw was a chest with a coin bag next to it. Luke picked up the coin bag and dumped its contents into his own coin bag. He then opened the chest and saw that there were seven septims lying on the bottom of the chest next to what looked like a shield made out of hide and metal, and another amethyst. Luke picked up the shield and held it in his right hand and slipped the amethyst into his left pant pocket before wandering over to a wall with numerous carvings. Luke couldn't understand what was written on the wall, but he did his best to copy the carvings down in a notebook that he carried in his backpack. Luke turned to his right after copying the carvings and groaned when he saw another ironclad door.

Wearily, Luke walked over the stone bridge to the door and cautiously opened the door. _I hope that I don't have to fight any more of those mummies. I don't know if I could do it in my current state._ When nothing jumped out at him, Luke peered my through the door and closed his eyes in relief as he saw that it was empty. Luke noticed a chain on the far end of the wall and waddled towards it. The wall next to the chain had an odd crack in it, so he pulled the chain and watched as a chunk of the wall slid forward and then disappeared into the floor. Following the path Luke reached another wall with a chain, which he pulled. Another section of the wall once more slid forward and down into the floor, and the room that was revealed this time was one that Luke recognized as the room he had killed Wyndelius in. Luke grimaced when saw the elf's body still laying where it fell. Luke knelt next to the corpse and apologized for killing him before heading out of the burrow for the final time, Luke knew for a fact that he would never enter that burrow again in his life.

Luke stumbled his way into the inn barley noticed that there wasn't anyone in the inn except Lynly and Wilhelm. Luke gave them a half hearted greeting as he staggered to the rented room. Luke dropped his backpack onto the floor, along with the two bows on his back, and the shield. His vision blurred as he collapsed face first onto the bed and then Luke knew nothing except the sweet embrace of sleep.

**Author's Note:  
I know that draugr aren't mummies, so before you guys rip me apart for that terminology, you have to remember that Luke isn't from Nirn so he doesn't know what the draugr actually are. I would like to thank you guys for your support, it means a lot and I would also like to give a special shout out to **_**za worlda**_** for the favorite and follow. I hope to hear what you guys think about this story so far and I hope that you all are staying safe and healthy during these times.**

**Sincerely,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	5. Chapter 5

"_Fate is never fair. You are caught in a current much stronger than you are…" __**Cassandra Clare **_

**Chapter Five**

_Blood, blood was everywhere Luke looked. The screams of his brothers in arms drowned out the sounds of gunfire. Luke glanced around the small building, looking for a way to counter the incoming bullets. He noticed another building across the street, so tantalizingly close, yet so dangerous. He would surely be exposed to enemy fire if he dashed across the street, but it might be the only way to get a better shot at stopping the gunfire raining down on this position. Luke kept himself low and walked over to his commanding officer and asked, "What's the situation with the radios? Are we getting any help?"_

"_Radios have been shot, they're useless," his CO said. _

"_Lay down some covering fire for me," Luke said. "I need to get to the building across the street."_

"_That's suicide!" _

"_It might be the best shot we have to strike back at these fuckers!"_

"_This compound is lost, it's time you made peace with that!"_

"_It may be lost, but we need to get Barnes and Pederson out of here," Luke said._

"_How do you propose we do that?" asked his CO._

"_Get me across this compound to that building, we can wait for night and I'll cause a diversion that should help you, Barnes, and Pederson get out of here."_

"_You're a good man, Porter," the CO said holding out his hand. Luke clasped the hand and the two men gave each other a nod before Luke stood up from his crouched position. "You'll have a small window, I hope that you can make it."_

"_Me too, sir," Luke said softly as he readied his rifle. _

_The squad's officer stood up and readied his own weapon before leaning out the door and firing off a burst of lead towards one direction of the incoming fire. Luke bolted through the door and across the street towards the other building. Just as he made it through the door, an explosion rocked the house and sent him flying into the opposite wall. Luke's vision blurred for a moment before refocusing. He shook his head to try and get rid of the ringing in his ears. Luke made looked back to where his commander was in the other building and made sure to make eye contact to let him know that he was alright. Luke settled in and focused on the direction the gunfire was coming from. He took a deep breath and waited for the cover of darkness to make his move._

Luke woke with a start and realized that he was breathing heavily. He took quick stock of the room that he was in and noticed that the bard was in the other bed looking over at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I… I'm fine," he answered. "Just a bad dream."

Luke stretched as he got out of bed and started to gather his things. The bows he shrugged onto his shoulders, followed quickly by the backpack. Luke held the hide shield in his left hand and felt Lynly's eyes focused on him. He turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" he asked.

Lynly's cheeks turned red and she avoided his gaze, "Sorry," she apologized,

"It's alright," Luke said accepting the apology. "Where's the best place I can go to sell some items I found in the burrow?"

"That would be Riften, the holds capital." Lynly answered. "Follow the road southeast and it'll be at the most eastern part of Lake Honrich."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling me that information and for helping out with Barknar yesterday," Luke answered awkwardly.

"Oh… not a problem at all, it's what any decent person would do." Lynly said her blush growing from her cheeks to her ears. "Another bit of advice, watch out for the Thieves Guild."

"I will," Luke said feeling the tips of his ears start to burn.

Luke walked out of the tavern and started to head south on the road leading out of Ivarstead. He paused when he heard his name shouted and turned around to see Klimmek running towards him. "Morning Klimmek," Luke greeted.

"You heading out?" Klimmek asked.

"Yeah, I found some things inside of that burrow that I would like to sell," Luke replied. Luke noticed Klimmek was holding something wrapped in leather in his hands. "What's that you got there?"

"A gift for your help delivering the supplies to High Hrothgar," Klimmek answered holding out the leather wrapped bundle. Luke took the bundle and Klimmek continued, "It should help out on your adventures."

Luke set the hide shield down and unwrapped the bundle and looked up at Klimmek unimpressed. "It's a pack…"

"Have you already forgotten, boy," Klimmek smirked. "It's an enchanted pack and now it belongs to you."

"Thank you," Luke said feeling awkward.

"I hope we meet again friend," said Klimmek. "Stay safe on the roads."

"I will," Luke said. "Goodbye Klimmek.

Luke stood at a fork in the road after following the road south for half an hour and looked at the sign post. _Helgen and Whiterun to the west and Riften to the east… Might as well check out Riften first like Lynly said,_ Luke thought to walking for a couple of hours, Luke came to another fork in the road, only this time there weren't any signposts for him to follow. He cursed and looked at the unpaved part of the road that forked to his left. Luke started to head down the path and paused when he saw buildings and a waterwheel set up like the mill in Ivarstead. Deducing that this was another mill, Luke backtracked to the paved section of the road and decided that following the paved part of the road would bring him closer to Riften.

After walking for sometime, Luke heard the sounds of combat. He turned to his right and froze in shock when what he could only describe as a giant was attacking a settlement of some kind. Luke slid his compound bow from his shoulders and nocked arrow before heading towards the fight. He sighted at the giant's head and loosed his arrow before nocking another one. Ice spikes flung from the sentry tower and pierced the giant's torso and thighs before his arrow connected with the giant's head. With a loud grunt, the giant hunched over and fell onto all fours. It swatted one of the men back, who flew into the wall of the encampment with a sickening crunch. The man slid to the ground and lay still. The giant made to swing at another of the men only to stop when another arrow lodged itself into it's skull. Luke approached and was about to say something when an ice spike lodged itself into the ground in front of him. "I'd stop right there stranger if I were you!" a rough female voice shouted from the sentry tower.

Luke raised the bow above his head along with his right arm in order to try to convey that he meant no harm. He took in the two remaining men that had fought the giant and was shocked when they turned to face him. _Orcs! Fuck me, I'm really in the land of fantasy now,_ he thought. _What's next? Lizard people?_

"I don't want any trouble," Luke called out.

"Then why are you here?" the rough voice sounded back.

"I only thought that I could help out with the giant," Luke replied. "I'm just passing through on my way to Riften. It seems like I shouldn't be here and I should go."

"No! Don't go. Please, our tribe suffers and we need help, whether or not our Chief Yamarz admits it or not. Please forgive my harsh words from earlier," the female orc said. "Let him pass through the gate."

The two orc men stepped aside and the gate opened to reveal the settlement. The female orc now stood in front of Luke and gave him a once over as he cautiously approached. "What exactly is going on here?" he asked.

"Our Chief Yamarz was once a strong and proud warrior. Now he is stricken and cursed. He has become weak, so our tribe is weak. The giants sense this and intrude on our territory. This is the second time in the last week that they have attacked our very home," the female orc said. "Yamarz refuses to seek help, but I sense that you may be just what this tribe needs."

"What could I do to help?" Luke asked baffled.

"Yamarz has demanded we stay inside the walls. We cannot leave. I must petition Malacath for relief," she answered. "This curse must be lifted, but I cannot travel to Malacath's shrine. The ritual needs to be done here, and I do not have the materials I need. I beg of you, can you bring me troll fat and a Daedra heart? I have no wish to depend on a stranger, but I have no choice."

An uneasy twinge hit Luke's stomach as the woman explained the situation. He met the orc's eyes and let out a sigh at seeing the desperation within them. "I can," he said softly. "I might be able to find the supplies that are needed in Riften or I can find them somewhere along the road."

"Thank you, stranger," the woman said, relief flooding across her face. "What is your name?"

"I'm Luke," he answered.

"The name's Atub," the orc answered. "I am the wise woman of this stronghold."

Luke gave Atub a nod and said, "I'll come back once I have the items that you have requested."

"Turn back to the road and it should lead you to Riften," Atub said. "Be careful to watch your purse while you are there."

"I will."

Luke took a pause from his travel and turned to look over at the lake on his left. He was a little surprised to see what looked like an old fort across the lake and a house on the middle of an island. Off past the island, Luke could see city walls in the distance. _That must be Riften,_ he thought._ It looks a lot larger than Ivarstead, that's for sure._

Luke was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard an odd roaring coming from behind him. He turned around, quickly gathering magicka into his hands, to look for whatever had made that sound. A gray version of a frost troll was staring at him from twenty yards away. It pounded the ground and made its strange call once more. The troll then charged towards him and Luke shot out a blast of lightning and two quick firebolts. The lightning connected with the troll's chest and the firebolts followed. It roared in pain, but kept up its charge towards him. Luke shot off a firebolt from each hand and the troll crumpled to the ground as the firebolts took it down.

Luke warily approached the fallen creature and wrinkled his nose at the stench of burnt hair. He set the enchanted pack he had received from Klimmek onto the ground and knelt down next to the troll. He rifled through the pack to see if there was anything that he could use to harvest some of the troll fat and was pleasantly surprised to find a small phial. Luke closed his eyes and concentrated on his flow of magicka once again and conjured a skinning knife into his right hand. He started to skin the troll around its belly to expose its fat depositories. Luke was a little surprised to see that troll fat was yellow, just like any other mammals. He cut some fat away from the stomach and somehow managed to fill the phial with it. Luke found a stopper in one of the packs side pockets and quickly put it stoppered the phial.

_Now, I just need to find a Daedra heart,_ Luke thought. _Is that a plant or something? If it is, my botany isn't very good so I doubt that I would be able to even identify it. Plus since I'm in a totally different world than my own, that hardens the task exponentially._

Luke dropped the skinning knife and watched it dissipate into the air once it dropped to the ground. He then made his way to the lakeshore and proceeded to wash away the blood and fat from his hands. Once that was done, Luke made his way back onto the road and kept on course to Riften. After a while of walking, Luke came to another fork in the road and could see a large windmill in the distance. He looked to the left and saw that the road turned into a bridge and led to the estate that was on the island. He walked past another signpost and noticed that the windmill was a farm. Luke kept walking and grew a little nervous as the walls around a city started to loom large in front of him. Two guards stood outside of a large gate and neither of them look as if they wanted to be there. The two guards watched as Luke approached and one placed his hand on an axe on his right hip. Luke slowed down a little and stopped a couple of paces away from the guards.

The guard on Luke's right, tightened his grip on his axe and said, "Hold, this gate is closed. If you want to enter the city, you must use the North Gate."

"What difference does it make between using this gate or the other?" Luke asked.

"This gate is closed," the guard said a bit more forcefully. "If you don't like it, you can hit the road and never come back."

"Alright, no need to get so pissy." Luke mumbled as he turned to leave. He followed the walls of the city around until he came to another gate, once again with two guards. Luke noticed a carriage and stable next to the walls but ignored them for the time being and approached the gate. The guard on Luke's left had a greatsword sheathed on her back and the one on his left had an axe on his hip.

"Hold there," the guard on Luke's right said. "Before I let you enter Riften, you must pay the visitors tax."

"The what?" Luke asked him.

"The visitors tax," the guard repeated.

"What's the tax for?"

"For the privilege of entering the city," the guard snapped. "What does it matter?"

_This is obviously a set up._ Luke thought. "This is obviously a shakedown," he said.

The guards looked at each other quickly and the guard on his right quickly said, "Alright, alright, keep your voice down. You don't want to alert the whole city. Let me unlock the gate and you can enter the city."

"Thank you," Luke said as the guard went to the gate.

"Don't cause any trouble," the guard on his left said.

"Like you and your friend here?" Luke said before he could stop himself. "I bet your colleagues on the South Gate were in on it as well?"

The woman sighed and said, "Yes, they would've gotten a cut. Please don't speak of this again. And remember…"

"To watch my purse carefully?" Luke interrupted. "I've heard that one before."

"Aye, watch your purse stranger."

"Gate's unlocked," the man said. "Off into the city with you."

"Have a good day you two," Luke said as he strode passed the guards. He opened the gate and took in the city. It was definitely a hell of a lot larger than Ivarstead and he was willing to bet that three or four Ivarsteads could fit inside of Riften. As Luke walked further into the city a man leaning against some pillars caught his eye.

"I don't know you," the man spat as he pushed himself off the pillar and glared at Luke with his arms crossed. "You looking for trouble?"

"Just passing through," Luke answered.

"Well I got news for you," the man said narrowing his eyes. "There's nothing to see here and the Black-Briars don't need a stranger sticking their nose into something it doesn't belong."

"Your Black-Briars are safe," Luke said evenly. "I'm just here to trade some things and then move along."

"I'll be keeping an eye on you stranger," the man said.

"Feel free."

"The market will be in the center of town, you can trade your things there."

Luke nodded in thanks and stood gob smacked when he saw a lizard person standing in one of the booths. _Well… I called that one,_ he thought in surprise. He approached a dark elf vendor and was asked, "What can I do for you stranger?"

"I've got some things to sell." Luke answered.

"Well, let us see what you've got," the dark elf answered.

Luke managed to sell the hide shield and the bow he found in the burrow. He didn't buy anything, which didn't seem to disappoint the elf. "What's with the… the…" Luke couldn't formulate his sentence.

"The Argonian?" the dark elf asked with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"The what?" Luke asked.

"You were going to ask about one of my fellow vendors, weren't you?" the elf asked. Luke nodded and the elf continued, "Must be your first time seeing an Argonian if you're reacting like that."

"Yeah, it's the first time seeing one," Luke answered.

"Madesi is harmless," the elf said. "He makes very beautiful jewelry though."

"Well, thanks for the information and thanks for purchasing the shield and bow."

"You're welcome, hope to see you back."

Luke left the elf's stand and stopped in front of a woman dressed in leather armor and her stall. "Protect yourself right, buy armor from Grelka," she said.

"How much for a set of leather armor?" Luke asked her.

"Three hundred septims, and I'll even through in the helmet and gauntlets for free," Grelka answered.

Luke counted out three hundred gold pieces from his purse and slid them to her. She came out from behind her stand with a piece of string and took his measurements. "You're in luck, I have a set that will fit you perfectly," she said. Grelka tossed Luke a set of leather armor, the helm, and the gauntlets. "Good day adventurer."

Luke put the armor on over his clothing and slipped on the gauntlets before donning the helm. He then made his way over to the Argonian's stand and met its eyes.

"Greetings honored friend," Madesi said. "Could I interest you in some fine jewelry?"

"I'm actually looking to sell some things. Mainly amethysts and other jewels," Luke answered.

"Lets see what you've got," the Argonian said pleasantly.

Luke sold all the jewels he had gotten from the burrow and pocketed the coins into his purse. "Do you know where I could find a Daedra heart?" Luke asked.

"You could check out Pawned Prawn, just passed the blacksmith," Madesi answered. "They might have what you're looking for landstrider."

"Thank you."

Luke found the shop and entered. "Welcome to the Pawned Prawn!" he heard. Luke looked up from the floor to see a balding man standing behind a counter. " The name's Bersi and this is my shop, what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a Daedra heart," Luke said. "Do you have any?"

"Lucky for you stranger, I do!" Bersi said excitedly.

"How much?"

"Five hundred septims," he said with a smile.

Luke counted out the septims and handed them to the shop owner. Bersi pulled out a box and slid it over the counter to Luke. Luke opened the box and saw a heart that looked a lot like a humans, but it was lighter shade of red and didn't look as frail as a humans either. Luke closed the lid and placed the box into his enchanted pack. "Is there an inn somewhere I can stay at?" he asked.

"Right across the street is the only inn that is in Riften that outsiders can stay at. It's called _The Bee and the Barb_," the shop owner answered.

"Thank you," Luke said as he turned to leave the shop. Luke looked up at the sky and frowned when he saw that the sun was beginning to set. He walked around to the front of the building in front of him and saw the sign confirming what the shop owner had said. Luke opened the door and saw a female Argonian behind the bar. He approached her and she looked at him with distrusting eyes.

"If you've got the coin, you're welcome here," she said brusquely. "Otherwise hit the road!"

"Keerava," a deep voice said. "Don't say such brusque things to potential customers, you'll turn them away otherwise."

"Talen, what have I said about interfering in my business?" Keerava hissed.

Luke turned and saw another Argonian standing next to the bar. The Argonian smiled and replied, "This business is as much mine as it is yours. Besides, we need any coin we can spare at the moment."

Keerava sighed and turned her attention back to Luke. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I'd like to rent a room for the night please, and maybe have something to eat added in as well," Luke replied.

Just as Keerava opened her mouth to say something, the door at the opposite end of the inn slammed open and a man came running in. "Ulfric Stormcloak has killed the High King!" he yelled.

**Author's Note:**

**Long time no read. I hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy during 2020! I would like to thank you guys for the support on this FanFic, it means a lot. A special thanks goes out to **_Wolf Fang 497, Shadowpawzzz, King dearth, Ironknight3307, ArchAngel319, SpaceDragonGod, _**and **_Existential ERROR _**for the favorites and follows! Thank you so much.**

**Sincerely,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	6. Chapter 6

"_You are not the victim of the world, but rather the master of your own destiny. It is your choices and decisions that determine your destiny." __**Roy T. Bennett**_

**Chapter Six**

Sleep did not come easy to Luke as he stared up at the ceiling from the rented room. He kept playing over and over again what that man had shouted earlier in the night, _Ulfric Stormcloak has killed the High King._ From his limited understanding of the world he now found himself in, Luke could only guess that the "civil war" that he had heard whispers of, was now going to fully turn into one. It had seemed to him, that the civil war up to this point had been more so a cold war. Plus, if his last night in Ivarstead was any indication, Luke was loath to fall asleep to stave off the nightmares for as long as he could.

Sleep eventually found him, but it was fitful and fleeting. Luke woke up with a start when there was a knock at his door. He readied the conjure sword spell and called out a quick, "Yes?"

"Is everything alright in there?" a woman's voice called back. "I heard yelling."

Luke felt a flush come over him as he realized that his nightmares had been visiting him. "Just a bad dream," he called back. "Sorry for the disturbances."

"Oh, don't worry about it," the woman replied. "Thought that I'd let you know that the kitchen is open for breakfast if you'd like."

"Thank you."

Luke eased himself out of the bed and stretched as he looked around the small room. He donned the leather armor and tidied up the room and made the bed before heading towards the stairs. The smell of food caused Luke's stomach to rumble in anticipation and he followed his nose towards the bar. A woman stood behind the counter and only a few patrons were in the dining area, all whispering amongst themselves. Luke took a seat at the bar and the woman gave him a quick once over.

"Anything I can get you?" she asked.

Luke's eyes widened as he recognized that voice from earlier. He felt his cheeks redden and said, "I'd just like some milk and porridge please."

The woman lifted an eyebrow and gave a small nod before going to get the food. She came back with a small glass of milk and a decent sized bowl of porridge. The woman set the food down in front of Luke and looked into his eyes. "What were you dreaming about?" she asked boldly.

"Not pleasant things," Luke replied evenly. "How much for the breakfast?"

"Four septims," the woman answered. "You're not from the Rift, are you?"

Luke paused in his movement to get out the gold before continuing. "You could say that," he answered as he handed over the gold. "I've travelled a bit here and there."

"Where are you from? I can't tell if you're a Breton or an Imperial?"

Luke closed his eyes and counted to ten before opening them and reaching for the spoon for his breakfast. "I'm from High Rock," he answered. "Northpoint to be more specific."

The woman's eyes widened and she asked, "What's it like there?"

"It's nice, but like anywhere in High Rock, the politics are everywhere," Luke said in a deflecting manner.

"You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"Not particularly, no. I'd just like to eat my breakfast and see the city a bit, it's different from my home."

"Sylvana, are you irritating customers again?" came the brusque voice of Keerava.

"No, ma'am," Sylvana replied. "Just trying to make conversation."

"I see," Keerava said as she circled around to stand next to Sylvana. "And what does this man have to say about that?"

Luke set the spoon down and looked the Argonian woman in the eyes and replied, "Sylvana's right, she was just trying to converse, I just didn't want to participate."

Keerava nodded and started talking to Sylvana again, but Luke tuned them out and focused on his breakfast. He ate quickly as the porridge had already lost some of its heat from his attempts at dodging conversation with Sylvana. He drained the small glass of milk and set it down on the counter before standing up. As Luke headed back upstairs to collect his things, he heard whispers of a ghost haunting the Ratway, whatever that was.

Luke came back down the stairs after collecting his belongings and headed out the door he had come in last night. Luke gazed over the market place and noticed that it was barren, and the sun had yet to chase the darkness fully from the land. He crossed the market place and came to a stop in front of a large keep. He glanced to his right and saw another building with a sign over the top reading _Honorhall Orphanage_. He walked up to the door and felt a pang of sympathy for the children inside. Luke noticed a staircase off to the right of the building and descended the stairs. He came to a stop at the bottom and a dark elf woman walked towards him.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Good morning, how are you?" Luke greeted.

"I'm doing well, stranger," the elf replied. "I saw you in the market yesterday."

"I had some things to sell and buy," said Luke. "I noticed that you were selling some food."

"The name is Marise Aravel, and you are?"

"Luke Porter," he answered.

Marise gave Luke an odd look and asked, "What are you doing down here?"

"Just looking," he answered. "What can you tell me about the Ratway? I heard some people discussing it at the Bee and the Barb."

A look of disgust came to Marise's face and she answered with clear disdain, "It's Riften's name for the sewers beneath our feet. Absolutely disgusting!" Marise walked by and started going up the stairs before saying over her shoulder, "If you fancy keeping your purse filled with gold and your head on your shoulders, I'd stay out of those awful tunnels."

"Thank you."

Luke looked across the water and walked across the bridge to a gate. He peered through the gate and saw a note on the door behind the gate. Luke cautiously opened the gate and ripped the letter of the door to read it:

_WARNING STAY OUT OF THE RATWAY. It has come to our attention that some misguided citizens have been venturing into the Ratway late at night. To complicate matters, others have seen fit to spread rumors of their disappearance, stirring up talk of ghosts and phantoms haunting the sewers. _

_We would remind you that the Ratway is not a safe place for commoners, and any talk of ghosts is nothing more than tavern gossip. We will investigate the matter shortly, but in the meantime, take heed and do not enter the Ratway!_

_-The Riften Guard_

Luke dropped the note and felt a bit of trepidation run through him and a bit of adrenalin as he thought about investigating the ghosts, like he did back in Ivarstead. Luke gave himself a mental shrug and opened the door. He walked down the stairs and paused when he heard a conversation just ahead. Luke paused and listened into it.

"I dunno, Drahff. They'd skin us alive if they found out we were doing this," a deep voice said.

"Why do you always have to act like such a big baby? I've gotten us this far!" Drahff snapped.

"This far? We're livin' in a sewer. You said we'd have a house as big as the Black-Briar's by now."

"You just worry about bashing people's heads in, I'll worry about the Guild, okay?"

"Okay, okay."

"I'm going to go check the entrance, be right back."

_Oh shit_, Luke had just enough time to think before a man with a bow on his back came into sight.

"Never should have come here!" Drahff yelled as he took the bow off his back and nocked an arrow. Another man came into view, a shield on his left arm and a sword in his right hand.

Luke readied a spell and let it go just as Drahff loosed an arrow. Luke's firebolt turned the arrow to ash before continuing and hitting Drahff right in the face. He let out a cry of pain and dropped his bow to cover his burned face as the other man charged passed him and raised his sword and shield as he got closer to Luke.

Luke backpedaled as he loosed another firebolt at the charging man's feet. He quickly conjured a sword into his right hand and blocked an incoming attack. The man pushed Luke away with his shield and swung wildly with his sword, briefly lowering his shield. Luke ducked under the attack and spun quickly on his back foot to stab the man in the chest. The sword the man held fell to the ground and Luke felt blood running onto his hands has he held the sword in place. Luke felt a shiver run through him and he pulled the sword out and turned to face the man he had stabbed. The man mouthed a couple of words before falling to the ground. He looked up at Luke and tried to say something before giving out a death rattle and then falling still.

"HEWNON! NO!" yelled Drahff.

Luke turned his attention towards Drahff and steeled himself for the next attack.

"You bastard!" Drahff spat. "I'll kill you for that!"

"You two attacked first!" Luke shouted.

With a roar, Drahff charged towards Luke with a dagger. Luke blasted a lightning bolt at him and watched as Drahff flew backwards. The man made contact with a wall and fell to the ground next to a some candles and lay still. Luke knelt next to Hewnon and closed the man's eyes before telling the man, "I'm sorry." He walked over to where Drahff had fallen and put a stop to the flow of magicka when he realized that the man was not getting up, nor moving. He turned Drahff over and was met with lifeless eyes, before they too were closed. Luke found a coin purse along the wall and with a guilty conscience, added the gold to his own. He looked towards his right and saw another hallway and decided to go and check it out. Luke came to an abrupt stop when he realized that there was a drawbridge on the other side that was in the up position. _There's got to be a way to get that down,_ he thought. _Or I can just jump down, it doesn't look that high up._

With a shrug, Luke jumped down and walked over to a entryway cut out in the stone. A door soon came into view and he went to open it, only to stop once he saw a tripwire next to the door. Luke took a couple of steps back and shot a firebolt at the wire. Spikes erupted from the left side of the doorway and slipped back into the wall as quickly as they had come. Luke let out a sigh of relief and cautiously opened up the door. He let out a breath when he saw nothing and continued to follow the corridor. Luke came to another door and opened it and was surprised to see a man standing in the room.

"What are you doing here?" the man accused.

"Looking for the so called ghost in the Ratway," Luke responded.

"There ain't one," the man spat, "you should move one."

"I would, but this seems to be the only way forward."

"Then you are making a mistake," the man said softly before charging at Luke.

_At least he's unarmed,_ thought Luke.

The man threw a left hook and Luke dodged and countered with a left hook of his own. The man connected with Luke's ribs on his next attack and Luke felt something almost give way. He stumbled back a couple of steps and brought his guard back up to take in the man in front of him. The man wore ragged clothes minus some leather gloves on his hands that glowed a soft red. The man charged at him again and the fight slowly escalated towards its conclusion. Luke and the man exchanged blows and counterblows before Luke got the man into a grappling position on the ground. Luke need the man in the ribs a couple of times, rolled onto his back and put the man into a guillotine choke. The man's struggles subsided and Luke quickly let go and checked on the man's pulse.

"I don't envy you when you wake up," Luke muttered as he collected his breath. "You're going to have one hell of a headache."

Luke then took a quick glance around the room and saw a gate on a far wall. A ghostly silhouette stood just beyond the gate. Luke slowly approached the gate and opened it. As he approached the apparition, she turned and walked away from him. Luke looked at the wall and found a man lying there, eyes void of life. Luke knelt down next to him and saw a journal clutched in his hands. Luke gently took the journal and flipped it open to read its contents.

_7__th__ of Morning Star, 4 E 171_

_My son, I do not have long for this world, but before the winter night embraces me, I would confess a great regret that has burdened my heart for many years._

_Long ago, my brethren and I were commissioned to hunt down and ensnare a dark and powerful renegade captain. A man who, once a proud soldier, had become corrupted by a powerful artifact, and turned to great darkness of deed. We fulfilled out commission, but not without great cost for I alone managed to survive the encounter._

_But, in the many years that have followed this venture, I have often wondered if our deed in ensnaring him was equally evil. For with our combined enchantments, we have bound him to an eternity of misery, for we bound him to the guardianship of the very thing that drove him insane, the artifact. A powerful weapon that now, despite his yearning for it, he cannot yield while he lives. It is a cruel fate for a once great man, for he was just that until grief and anger laid him bare to such utter corruption an malice. That story is a sad tale indeed. _

_But now, these many years on, my heart sees the truth, and I would undo that which was done and free him from his misery. But alas, it is too late for me to take on such a quest. Therefore I pray that you, my son, will do this task in my stead. I beg you as a father's last wish, seek him out and set him free._

_Your father,_

_Sellonus_

Luke set the journal back onto the body and turned to look for the ghost. She stood in front of a circular door and vanished once she saw Luke make eye contact. He stood up and felt drawn towards the door, which a voice whispered into his mind that it was the Guardian Vault. Luke felt an out of body experience as he witnessed his hand reach towards the door, as if on its own free will, and open it. He watched as he walked through the door to once again try and find the ghostly woman. He walked into a cistern where at the center was a three-way bridge. At the center of that bridge, the woman stood in front of a glowing red wall of energy. The woman vanished as Luke drew near and he could make out a shape of a sword within the swirling energy. He looked around and saw three doorways, all lit up with a different colored energy. To his left was a doorway in red, ahead of him was a doorway in green, and to his right was a doorway in blue.

Luke closed his eyes and reopened them and felt the out of body experience slip away. _What the fuck was that?_ he thought. _What the hell have I gotten myself entangled in?_ Luke gave himself a rough shake and headed towards the doorway that was glowing red. As Luke approached the door, he noticed a brazier with a red fire burning in it. _Explains the red glow, but it's still a bit abnormal compared to what logic dictates back home. I wonder if it this world has strontium salts. It'd explain this red flame that's for sure, but more likely than not, it's something that has to do with magic._

Luke slowly headed through the opened door and down the stairs that soon followed. He came into a large room where a figure cloaked in a red aura stood at the top of a stairway with the ghostly woman he had followed into the cistern standing above the other figure. Luke readied his magicka and conjured a sword in his right hand. He quickly ran his fingers over the edge of the blade and breathed a sigh of relief when he felt that the edge was sharp. Somehow, his conjuration ability had increased drastically overnight. Luke approached the figure cautiously and when he made it to the base of the stairs, the woman vanished and the figure turned around and raised its sword and shield. The man, Luke could now see, advanced towards him and Luke quickly shuffled back a couple of steps and let loose three lightning bolts in a quick series of attacks. The man stumbled as the lightning bolts connected and Luke took that as an advantage and struck the figure with his conjured blade. The man fell to one knee and his aura changed from red to green before he too vanished from sight.

Luke dropped the conjured sword and watched it disappear into Oblivion. He then proceeded to walk around the room and look for items he could either use to scavenge or gather information. Luke found a coin bag and added the coins to his own purse. Once he had grabbed what he wanted and left that which he did not, Luke returned to the cistern and noticed that the magic flowing around the sword turned from red to green. Luke looked towards the archway bathed in green light and headed towards it with grim determination. He paused when he saw an odd looking table next to one of the braziers. On which, lay another book bound in leather. Luke opened the book and discovered that it was another journal from this Sellonus. Luke read the contents of the journal and came away perturbed. _What kind of sick fucks would bring a man's deceased wife in order to just trap him? Is she the figure that led me here? Those mages must've inadvertently trapped her soul here, if that's a thing,_ he thought to himself before once again heading towards trouble instead of away from it. He found himself in a room with water falling from above him and a pool of water below. Luke glanced up and once again saw the woman standing in a doorway just up the ramp and across from him. Same as before as he approached, the woman vanished. Luke readied another conjured sword in his right hand and once again followed that up with lightning dancing between his fingertips on his left. Luke guardedly entered the room and found the man kneeling on one knee looking at the woman. The woman disappeared and the man stood up and readied his sword and shield once again as they noticed Luke's approach. The weapons disappeared and the man gathered magicka in each hand. Two portals to Oblivion, from what Luke had read and understood from books on conjuration back at High Hrothgar, formed and two figures cloaked in fire emerged. They flung fire at Luke as he dodged out of the way. The man added his own fire to the fray and left Luke little room to take cover or avoid. Luke took care of the two things cloaked in fire and turned his attention to the man.

Lightning and fire were thrown back and forth in an effort to extinguish the other. Small explosions rocked the small room as the to combatants tried to subdue or kill the other. The man once more fell to his knees and turned another color as he had done in the other room, this time turning blue. Luke squatted down in exhaustion and felt a burning sensation in his left hand. He glanced down and looked at the blistering skin before quickly resorting to restoration magic and healing himself. Luke couldn't help but feel a grim humor and some regret that he couldn't have used this ability back home to help out some of his brothers in arms when they had needed it. Luke gave himself a shake to rid himself of those thoughts and took in more details in the room that he was in.

The green lighting from the braziers in the room gave it an eerie feeling. Luke saw torture devices on the walls and took note of the skeletons lying there. He turned to his right and saw a skeleton in another room slouched over in a chair. Out of curiosity, Luke headed towards the door and immediately cursed his foolishness as the skeleton stood up. Luke quickly defeated the skeleton with lightning and fire before walking over to the table the skeleton had been sitting next to. A dagger pinned a piece of paper to the tabletop. Luke noticed that the dagger gave off a faint purple glow from its blade. He worked the dagger loose and placed it into his enchanted pack. Luke picked up the piece of paper and read its contents:

_I met Sychelle Gatharian on a Morndas, outside the docks in the rain. Should've taken it as a sign._

_We'd done business before, she and I. Smuggling black soul gems, corpses, the kind of dark and dishonest things that would make grown men sleep in pairs. But this was different. This was big._

_The sword she gave me was like nothing I'd ever seen. Teeth like a slaughterfish and a blood red gem in the center. I said it must've been one of a kind. That's when she smiled and told me there was another._

_My job was to swap them._

_We sealed the venture with a coin, of which more was promised later. The mage told me I'd be contacted in a week. A group of her associates would pay us to use the hideout to kill some captain, after which, I'd make the switch._

_She told me to keep this a secret from the mages, which made me pause, but the details didn't matter much to me. All I wanted to know was the number on the ledger. It was enough._

_Months later and the deal turned rotten. The mages underestimated their own magic, and we our greed. Now we're all paying the price for our stupidity. _

_Some tried to fight their way out, but the bastard won't die. I'm beginning to think he can't. ON top of that, every man that he's felled has risen to fight beside him, making him that much harder to kill._

_I guess I have no one to blame but myself. I should've trusted my gut from the start. Mage jobs always have a bad stink on them, but this one smelled especially foul. But I wanted that gold so bad I convinced myself and the men it was moon sugar._

_The funny thing is, I don't even have Bloodthirst anymore. I lost it at the pits at Faldar's Tooth, thinking I could just kill the mages and Gatharian once I got my hands on the other one. But when the spell went bad, the guild sealed the captain in these chambers, and us along with him._

_Now all I have left is a festering wound, an empty stomach, and the mage's coin to show for it._

_Chances are, this coin is probably the only thing that will ever make it out of here. But oh, could it tell you a story._

_Because this coin has bought a lot of lives._

_It's sold a lot of dreams, and spilled a lot of blood._

_I know now the coin is cursed. Yet for some reason, I can't let it go._

Luke stood in dumb silence and cursed himself once again for allowing himself to go on this stupid venture. "There's definitely going to be fucking skeletons with him next time," he muttered to himself. "And he can fucking use magic! What the fuck Porter!"

With dread sitting heavily in his gut, Luke felt his steps grow heavier as he once again entered the cistern. The cistern shook as the green magic swirling around the sword changed to the color blue. The dread solidified once Luke came to the room that was bathed in blue light. He saw skeletons laying all over the place, but no signs of the woman or the man. Luke blasted the skeletons that he could see with firebolts from the doorway and felt the dread enter into his veins before easing a little. Luke entered the room and kept a vigilant look out for the man. Luke descended the stairs into a pool of water that came up to his knees. A grunt of disgust and discomfort erupted from his mouth before he could stop it. Luke always hated walking with wet footwear. Luke climbed the stairs ahead of him and saw a sarcophagus surrounded by more skeletons. Luke quickly scattered the skeletons around the sarcophagus so that if something happened that they wouldn't reform and gave them a quick blast of fire to make sure that it wouldn't happen. One of the bones bumped into the sarcophagus causing the room to shake. The man appeared in the only exit way surrounded by a blue light. The red aura from before flashed from the man crouched and a clone of the man charged at me with sword and shield raised high. Luke let loose blasts of lighting and fire. He felt some relief that he was on higher ground and had somewhat of an advantage, however small, over the opponent. The red aura covered clone disappeared only for the green one to take its place. Luke quickly dispatched that one as well before the man covered in blue aura stood up and charged toward him. Luke conjured a sword in his hand and loosed another bout of lighting. The man stumbled briefly before rushing up the stairs to meet Luke head on. Luke loosed a firebolt and swung with his conjured blade. The blade met its mark and Luke fully expected the man to disappear again only to curse when the aura disappeared an revealed a man in full armor. The man clashed with Luke and Luke felt the overwhelming sense of being outclassed as he toward the end of his jaunt in the burrow in Ivarstead. Luke managed to get himself some space and yelled, "Yol!"

The fire leapt forth and engulfed the man and gave Luke just enough time to close the space he had gained and stab his sword through the man's neck. The fire died down and the man gave a small gurgle before slumping back and off of the conjured blade. The man tumbled backwards down the stairs and stopped just before hitting the water. His body gave an odd glow before it started to disintegrate, leaving the armor behind. Luke dropped the conjured sword and slowly approached the armor. When nothing happened after a couple of minutes, the feeling of dread left Luke completely. He picked up the armor and held it up to himself. The armor seemed to be well made and oddly enough, looked as if it would fit him. Luke placed the armor into the enchanted pack and shook his head incredulously at how everything just seemed to fit. His eyes soon turned to the sword and shield left behind. Luke picked up the sword and was surprised to see that it looked similar to a katana. He found the sword belt and strapped it to his hip before sheathing the blade. Luke slung the shield onto his back and the enchanted pack followed. He let out a sigh before heading toward the cistern one last time. Luke paused when he saw the woman and the man standing in front of the sword. The two kissed and the cistern once again shook as the blue light faded from around the sword as the couple vanished.

Luke climbed the rest of the way and stood in front of the sword to take in the details. A sapphire sat in the pommel with golden accents. The hilt was more than likely a hand and a half. The crossguard was elaborate with a large red gem set in the middle. The sword blade confused the hell out of Luke the longer he looked at it. It looked as if it were to separate blades connected to one hilt more than anything. The sharp edges faced out with serrated teeth facing in. The two blades were mirror images of one another and gave off a slight golden glow. Luke shrugged and picked up the sword. A peculiar feeling fleetingly rushed through him and he heard a quiet whisper in his mind inform him of the sword's name: Duskfang.

**Author's Note:**

**I took inspiration for this chapter from **_A Soul Divided_** Creation Club quest. I hope that you all are doing well and staying healthy here in 2020. I would like to give a special shout out to **_Let's try this_**, **_rafaelcaroca_**,**_ DragoGamerKing_**,**_ demonhunterlennard_**,**_ The Moonwatcher_**, **_AscendedHumanity_**,**_ generalhatvenom_**, and**_ Bisentennial_** for the favorites/follows, it means a lot. **

**Until we meet again,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	7. Chapter 7

"_Choices are the hinges of destiny." __**Edwin Markham**_

**Chapter Seven**

Luke exited the Guardian Vault and noticed that there were some stairs that he had missed when he was in his trance. With that being most likely the way out of the Ratway, he climbed the stairs and saw a gated door blocking another room. Luke cautiously peered through the gate and noticed an axe stuck in a tree stump with a basket next to it. He slowly opened the door and slid into the room. He approached the axe and noticed that the log had dried blood on it, almost as if it had been used as an executioner's block.

With a shudder at that thought, Luke moved on from the room and was once more greeted by an occupant of the Ratway. The burly man approached Luke with his sword already drawn. Luke opened his mouth to try and talk to the man, but he wasn't given a chance as the man charged. _What is with people always trying to kill you in this place!_ Luke thought as he had just enough time to evade the attack before the sword whistled by where his neck had been. Luke slipped the shield off his back and onto his left arm and blocked the next attack. Blow after blow rained down on Luke, but he blocked all of them and was grateful that the man only seemed to be attacking in overhand swings. Luke launched a firebolt, that caught the man square in the chest and nocked him back a couple of paces to give Luke enough time to breathe.

The man gathered himself briefly before charging towards Luke once more. Luke sidestepped and cast another firebolt. The man grunted in pain as the firebolt connected with his sides this time. The man took a step forward and staggered for the briefest of moments before flourishing his sword and getting met with two quick firebolts to the face. The man let out a wail of pain before sinking to his knees where he then fell on his face and remained still.

Luke looked for signs of the man breathing and guardedly advanced. He nudged the fallen man with his foot before jumping back and holding the shield at the ready along with his trusty fire spell. The man did not move and Luke lowered the shield and let the magicka disperse. "May you find peace in your rest," Luke muttered to the man before he walked away from him. Luke turned to an archway that was on his left and headed towards it. He saw the drawbridge from earlier with a lever on the wall next to it. Luke activated the lever and watched as the drawbridge fell to the other side. _I certainly hope that I don't have to come through here again,_ he thought to himself as he exited the Ratway.

Luke made his way to the market place and made his way to the woman who had sold him his armor. He waited until she finished with a customer before stepping in front of her stall.

"Oh, it's you again," Grelka said with a hint of disdain. "Looks like you already got some use out of your armor if the nicks in it are anything to go by."

"Yeah, it's protected me alright," Luke answered setting his pack down on the stall top. "What can you tell me about these?" as he pulled the armor from the Guardian out of the pack.

"It looks like heavy armor, good craftsmanship," Grelka replied as she appraised it. "I can't tell you much about these, but Balimund the blacksmith would be able to help you out if you want more information."

"Thank you," Luke said as he loaded the armor back into the pack.

Luke made his way to the blacksmith shop just outside of the market place and watched as a strongly built man in a white tunic with an apron made his way around the smithy. The man turned to face Luke and Luke saw the impressive mustache on the man's face.

"What can I do for you stranger?" the man asked.

"Are you Balimund?" Luke asked.

"Aye, I am," Balimund answered. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you knew anything about these armor pieces that I've got," Luke answered as he set his pack on the ground and once again pulled out the armor.

Balimund approached and looked at the armor with an assessing eye. "It looks like Imperial blacksmiths made this set," he said with what sounded like begrudging respect. "The armor looks to have been forged for the Blades."

"The what?" Luke asked in bewilderment, although the somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, that rang a bell.

"The Blades," Balimund repeated. "They were the original body guards of the Emperors before the Great War. They were all wiped out by the Thalmor after it ended. I'm surprised that you didn't know that considering you look like an Imperial."

"I'm a Breton," Luke responded quickly, "and I forget things easily."

Balimund gave Luke a once over before replying, "Uh-huh, to the right person, the armor set is worth a good deal, but I am not the right person."

"Do you know anyone that would be?" Luke asked.

"Besides the Thalmor? No."

"Thank you for the time."

"Where did you get that armor from anyway?"

"The Ratway."

A look of confusion fleetingly darted across Balimund's face at Luke's answer. The blacksmith nodded and turned his attention back to the forge. Luke took that as a sign to leave and once again started packing up the armor. He turned to leave before he heard Balimund say, "Don't let the Thalmor catch you wearing that armor, boy."

Luke turned around and made eye contact with the blacksmith. "Would you be able to melt these down and make me a new set of armor?" he asked.

"Aye that I could," the blacksmith answered. "It'll cost you though."

"How much?"

"Eight hundred septims."

Luke opened up his coin purse and counted his coins. "How about four hundred and a favor for later?" he countered.

"Seven hundred and a favor for later," Balimund responded.

"Five."

"Six."

"Five twenty."

"Five seventy."

"Five forty."

Balimund sighed and rubbed his face before saying, "Deal, although I'd like the gold up front."

"I can do that," Luke agreed.

"I won't be able to rework the boots, but those should serve their purpose and not draw the Thalmors eyes. Come by again tomorrow around this time and I should have the bracers, helm, and chest piece done."

"Thank you for doing this," Luke said gratefully as he handed over the septims and armor.

"Better go read up on your history again while you wait," Balimund joked as he turned away from Luke.

Luke took Balimund's advice and reread the last two volumes of _A Brief History of the Empire_ while he waited to hear back from the blacksmith. The hours came and went as Luke read in "The Bee and Barb" and still nothing was heard, but he expected that when it came to blacksmithing. Once he finished reading, Luke glanced around the dining area of the inn and finally realized that a bard was attempting to sing to the gathered occupants. The bard was a terrible singer, in Luke's opinion and was utterly tone deaf. The bard was getting flustered at the heckling that was being thrown his way and Luke sighed softly as he stood up and approached the man.

"Would you mind not singing?" Luke asked softly. "You aren't doing yourself much favors and it might be better if you just stuck to playing the lute."

The man bristled angrily and shoved the lute into Luke's arms. "I am sick of you people!" the man spat. "Always thinking that you can perform better than a trained bard from the College in Solitude! Pox on all of you uncultured heathens! If you think you can play better than me, prove it!" With a last harrumph, the man strode to where Luke had been sitting and the crowd started to heckle Luke.

"Fuck," mumbled Luke. He turned and grabbed a barstool from the bar and quickly sat in it and tuned the bottom six strings to match a standard tuned guitar and gave it a few strums and figured out the fret board.

"Are you going to _sing_ stranger!" bellowed the Bard.

Luke smirked and started strumming the lute to match the intro to an Iron Maiden song before he started singing:

_Are you a man of peace__  
__Or man of holy war__  
__Too many sides to you__  
__Don't know which any more__  
__So many full of life__  
__But also filled with pain__  
__Don't know just how many__  
__Will live to breathe again_

_A life that's made to breath_

_Destruction or defense_

_A mind that's vain corruption_

_Bad or good intent_

_A wolf in a sheep's clothing_

_Or saintly or sinner_

_Or someone that would believe_

_A holy war winner_

_They fire off many shots_

_And many parting blows_

_Their actions beyond a reasoning_

_Only god would know_

_And as he lies in heaven_

_Or it could be in hell_

_I feel he's somewhere here_

_Or looking from below_

_But I don't know, I don't know_

_Please tell me now what life is_

_Please tell me now what love is_

_Well tell me now what war is_

_Again tell me what life is_

_More pain and misery in the history of mankind_

_Sometimes it seems more like the blind leading the blind_

_It brings upon us more of famine death and war_

_You know religion has a lot to answer for_

_Please tell me now what life is_

_Please tell me now what love is_

_Well tell me now what war is_

_Again tell me what life is_

_And as they search to find the bodies in the sand_

_They find it's ashes that are scattered across the land_

_And as their spirits seem to whistle on the wind_

_A shot is fired somewhere another war begins_

_And all because of it you'd think that we would learn_

_But still the body count the city fires burn_

_Somewhere there's someone dying in a foreign land_

_Meanwhile the world is crying stupidity of man_

_Tell me why, tell me why_

_Please tell me now what life is_

_Please tell me now what love is_

_Well tell me now what war is_

_Again tell me what life is_

_Please tell me now what life is_

_Please tell me now what love is_

_Well tell me now what war is_

_Again tell me what life is_

_For the greater good of God  
For the greater good of God __  
__For the greater good of God  
For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

Luke took a break from singing and started an acoustic version of the guitar solo before continuing:

_Please tell me now what life is_

_Please tell me now what love is_

_Well tell me now what war is_

_Again tell me what life is_

_Please tell me now what life is_

_Please tell me now what love is_

_Well tell me now what war is_

_Again tell me what life is_

_For the greater good of God  
For the greater good of God __  
__For the greater good of God  
For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

_For the greater good of God _

Luke stopped singing and purposefully left out the last verse in order to avoid confusing the locals. Luke made eye contact with the Bard and stood up. The crowd was silent for a brief moment before clapping and cheering. Luke walked over to the bard and tossed him the lute.

"Buu…but h-h-how?" the Bard stumbled.

"My mom had me go through some lessons back home for twelve years for singing and the same amount for playing instruments," Luke answered. "I didn't mean to come off towards you as a dick, and for that I apologize. I was trying to help you save face."

"I don't need your help," the Bard muttered testily. "I'm going to head back to Bruma, where I know that I'll be appreciated!"

"Best of luck to you," Luke replied.

With a last "humph," the bard exited the inn and another man walked in. Luke sat back down at his table and pulled his pack a bit closer to him. He heard footsteps approaching and then stop. Luke looked up from his pack and saw the male Argonian that had talked to Keerava yesterday standing there.

"How can I help you?" Luke asked. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

"The name is Talen-Jei," the Argonian replied. "Keerava and I were wondering if you would like to become the bard for our establishment."

Luke stuttered out a few incomprehensible words before gathering himself. "I'd be honored," he finally said. "But I have other things that I need to take care of. I'm trying to find the best way to get home, and there are few who seem to know the best route to take."

"The offer will stand for as long as needed," Talen-Jei said. "You have Keerava's and my thanks for driving that other bard out of here. He was costing us customers every time he opened his mouth. For our thanks, you will always have a room here at the Bee and Barb."

"Thank you, that is… that is very kind of you," Luke said feeling some emotion.

Talen-Jei nodded and said as he slid a key across the table, "It'll be the same room that you had last night."

The Argonian walked away as Luke took the key. Luke grabbed his pack and headed back up to the room. He shut the door and set his back on the floor. With a groan, Luke removed the leather armor and set it all on a nightstand. Once that task was complete, Luke noticed that his compound bow was still resting against the foot of the bed. Luke went to lock the door before climbing into the bed and closing his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

**Another chapter in the books. Once again, I hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy during 2020. I would like to thank the following for the follows/favorites: **_SilverGate48_**,**_ msyendor_**,**_MisguidedSoul78_**,**_ Zephyr47_**,**_ YuNaru19_**, and **_Theblazeingtiger_.

**Please let me know how I'm doing through a review, it'd be much appreciated. Also, I do not own the lyrics to **_For the Greater Good of God_**, that belongs solely to Iron Maiden. For a good acoustic cover of the song, if you're interested, it came from Matt Heafy on his youtube channel.**

**Until we meet again,  
PF**


	8. Chapter 8

"_It was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice." __**Joseph Conrad**_

**Chapter VIII**

Luke woke to the sounds of a busy inn beneath him. With a groan, Luke got himself out of bed and stretched. His back gave a satisfactory crack and Luke grunted at the slight discomfort. Luke donned the leather armor and gathered his things. The shield and his bow were on his back along with the enchanted pack. Luke made the bed before exiting the room and heading down the stairs. The dining area of the inn was busier than yesterday morning, and a man with a long braided beard and a blacksmith apron stood next to the bar. The man noticed Luke making his way to the bar and approached him. The man stopped in front of Luke and asked, "Are you Luke Porter?

"I am," Luke answered.

"Balimund said that your armor is ready and I was to come and get you," the man said.

"Thank you…" Luke paused and motioned with his hand.

"Asbjorn Fire-Tamer," the man replied. "I'm Balimund's apprentice."

"Well thank you, Asbjorn," Luke said with a smile.

Asbjorn nodded and said, "You can stop by whenever you're ready."

With that said, Asbjorn walked out of the inn and Luke cracked his neck before sitting down on one of the open bar stools. Keerava was minding the bar and gave an inquisitive look at Luke once he sat down. "And what are you having this morning?" she asked.

"Just a glass of milk please," answered Luke.

With a nod, the Argonian disappeared into a back room and came out with a small glass of milk. She set the glass on the table and Luke paid her three gold for it. Keerava gave a brief nod and turned to talk to the other patrons. Luke downed the glass of milk and left the bar to head to the smithy.

Balimund and Asbjorn stood by the forge holding a set of armor in their hands. Luke stopped in front of the pair of blacksmiths and looked down at the armor they held.

"The steel was a wonder to work with," Balimund said gruffly. "Everything should fit you, the torso piece can be adjusted with the leather straps on the sides. The bracers were able to be reworked, however we weren't able to get the fingers set."

"Thank you for the work," Luke replied. "Would you mind if I tried it on?"

"Go ahead."

Luke took the leather armor he had purchased earlier off, along with his belongings, and donned the steel armor above his clothes. The armor fit him like a tailored suit, albeit a heavy one. He strapped the sword to his left hip and once again placed his shield, bow, and pack onto his back. Luke looked down at the discarded leather armor and asked, "Would you be interested in buying the leather armor?"

"I'll give you seventy gold for it," Balimund said.

"Deal," Luke agreed. "Now, what favor would you like?"

"I need fire salts for my forge."

"Okay…" Luke trailed off with an odd look on his face.

"They're the secret to my forging. Fire salts burn as hot as Red Mountain lava. My forge is dying and I've used the last of the my fire salts."

"How many would you need?" asked Luke.

"Ten would keep the forge running for a long time," answered Balimund.

"When I gather ten fire salts, I will return then."

Balimund nodded and gathered the leather armor. He looked over at Asbjorn and gave him a brief nod. Asbjorn reached into a purse and pulled out the gold. He handed the gold over to Luke and then turned to disappear back into the shop. Balimund followed, leaving Luke alone at the smithy. Luke turned around and bumped into someone. He backed away and quickly apologized as he checked for his coin purse. Luke looked up at the man he had bumped into and saw that the man was giving him an odd look. "Can I help you?" Luke asked.

"Never done an honest day's work in your life for all that coin you're carrying, eh lad?" the man asked.

Luke bristled at the allegation and responded, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I'm saying you've got the coin, but you didn't earn a septim of it honestly. I can tell."

"Piss off," Luke said as his eyes turned cold. "I feel like I've earned what I've got."

"Sure you do, lad," the man nodded sagely. "The name is Brynjolf, and I was wondering if you'd like to help me out with a job."

"Fuck off," Luke hissed, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not interested."

"You seem like the type that would be interested…"

"Look, I said I'm not interested, it means I'm not fucking interested. So why don't you go and try to swindle someone else into whatever scheme you're planning and leave me the fuck out of it!"

Brynjolf blinked in surprise before taking a couple of steps back. He gave Luke a once over before shaking his head. "Sorry… I usually have a nose for this kind of thing. Never mind then, lad. _If_ you change your mind, come find me," he said.

"Don't count on it," Luke replied. He watched Brynjolf leave before turning and heading towards the South Gates of the city. _It's about time I head back to that stronghold with that Daedra heart and troll fat. Atub is probably wondering where I am with it._

Luke exited Riften and looked at the two guards standing watch on each side of the gate before heading down the path. As Luke walked, he couldn't help but feel an odd sense of comfort coming from wearing seventy pounds of gear and armor once more. Luke walked casually down the road and took in the countryside of the Rift. A distant howl sounded through the quiet of the road, causing Luke to still. He heard an answering howl that sounded closer and then the sound of paws thumping through the foliage. Luke readied a firebolt spell in his right hand and waited. A wolf emerged from the foliage and charged at Luke. Luke ducked under the leaping wolf and blasted it with the firebolt. The wolf let out a quick yelp before crashing to the road and laying still. Luke ruffled his nose at the smell of burning fur and ceased the flow of magicka. _Does everything here in Skyrim try to kill you?_ Luke thought as he kept walking.

The walk the rest of the way was uninterrupted by the local fauna as the walls of the stronghold came into view. There were cries that sounded from the stronghold as a giant lumbered up to the walls. Ice spells were hurled from the sentry towers, along with a barrage of arrows. The giant groaned and made vocalizations as it was hit by a couple of the ice spells and the majority of the arrows. The giant staggered back as Luke rushed to help the stronghold defend its walls. Luke launched two firebolts that connected with the giant's shoulders and neck. The giant turned to face Luke and lifted up its club before taking great strides towards him.

Luke shot a bolt of lightning towards the giant and watched as it connected with the giant's face. The behemoth lurched back with a groan of pain and made to swing with its hammer. With two sickening _thumps_ a couple of arrows connected with the back of the giant's head, with the arrowheads protruding from each eye. The giant swayed and dropped the hammer before following it to the ground. No orcs came out to meet Luke this time as he approached the entrance for the stronghold.

"Is that you traveller?" Luke heard Atub cry out.

"It is," Luke called back. "I've brought what you have asked for."

Luke heard Atub shout something in a language he didn't understand and the gate opened to reveal the orc woman standing there. Luke removed his backpack and rummaged through it until he found the vial of troll fat and the Daedra heart. "Here are the things you asked for," he said.

"Excellent. Now, you must come with me. You've become a part of this. You must be present for the ritual," Atub said as she took the two items.

"Pardon?" Luke questioned.

Atub ignored Luke as she turned to head back into the stronghold. Luke put on his backpack again and followed after the orc woman. She didn't say a word or acknowledge any attempts by Luke to get her attention. With a silent curse, Luke followed the woman to a large longhouse type building. She turned before opening the door and motioned for Luke to follow. Luke followed her through the door. Luke winced and felt his cheeks redden when he heard the sound of flesh slapping flesh along with the grunts of two in the middle of love making.

Atub turned to the room on the left and once again motioned for Luke to follow. The flush encompassed Luke's entire face now, he was sure, as he did what the orc woman asked. The sight that met his eyes was one that he would try to erase from memory for a long time. On a large bed in the center of the room, two orcs were in the middle of rutting each other. Atub cleared her throat and the male orc sped up his thrusts in response. With a grunt to signal his climax, the orc collapsed on top of his partner. He lay there panting for a while before rolling off of the orc beneath him and turning to face Atub.

"It is time, Yamarz," said Atub.

Yamarz grunted before getting into a sitting position. "You bring an outsider here, and now insist that I call on Malacath for help, when he has clearly forsaken me? You try my patience, Atub."

"Doing nothing will not grant our tribe relief from this curse!" Atub retorted. "We must try."

Yamarz growled and reached for a loincloth. He tied it and let out another growl and said, "Fine, give me a moment to get dressed and then let's get this over with!"

Atub nodded and pulled Luke out of the longhouse. "Did you really have to pull me into the longhouse?" Luke asked once they got outside.

"I did not know that Yamarz was in the middle of bedding his newest interest," Atub said apologetically. "For that, you have my apologies."

"Accepted."

Yamarz came bursting through the door dressed in a full suit of armor. "Let's finish this, Atub," he growled.

Atub headed towards an altar in the middle of the stronghold and placed the troll fat and Daedra heart onto the altar. Yamarz stood off to the side and Luke stood as far away as he could.

"Now, we begin the ritual…" Atub spoke. "Great Malacath, we beseech you, aid us in our time of need…"

"Why are we bothering with this?" Yamarz said hotly.

"**You pathetic weakling!**" a powerful voice boomed.

Luke flinched and looked around for the source of the voice. A look of awe was on Atub's face and a brief thought flashed through Luke's mind that this could be the god she wanted to contact.

"What's that!?" roared Yamarz.

"Malacath has heard my pleas! He speaks to us!" Atub said excitedly.

"**You **_**dare**_** summon me, Yamarz?**" the voice boomed once more.

"What?" Yamarz questioned in discomfort. "What is this?"

"**You don't deserve to call yourself an Orc!**" Malacath snarled. "**You're weak, you're small, and you're an embarrassment! You let giants… Giants!... overrun my shrine. Bring me their leader's club as an offering, and I might release you from this curse!**"

"So it will be. Malacath has spoken!" Atub said, hope and relief appearing on her face. "Yamarz, your path is clear." Luke now noticed that a lot of orcs were standing around the center of the stronghold now, their gazes fixed on Yamarz and the altar.

"Very well," grumbled Yamarz. The chieftain paused as he scanned the gathered crowd. His eyes narrowed when they stopped to rest on Luke. "You, outsider, come here! I want a word!" he yelled.

The orcs that were standing in between their chief and the outsider parted like the Red Sea and Luke begrudgingly walked towards Yamarz.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"This is all your fault you know. I'm stuck fighting a giant now, thanks to you. So you're going to help me," Yamarz snarled. "You're going with me, and you're going to make sure I don't have any trouble reaching that giant. Don't worry, I'll make it worth your while."

"Fighting that giant isn't my job," Luke said evenly.

Yamarz snorted and replied, "Thanks to you, I've just been issued a challenge in front of my whole tribe, by a Daedric Prince, no less. I can't ignore that. I didn't say _I_ wouldn't fight the giant. I just said _you're_ going to help me get to it. Meet me outside Fallowstone Cave. You clear the way to the giant for me, and I'll make sure you get paid for it." With that said, the orc stormed off and left Luke standing alone in a sea of gazes.

Atub approached Luke and had a look of worry in her eyes. "Please, help Yamarz, do whatever you can. Our tribe depends on it," she pleaded.

"Do you have a map that I can have?" Luke asked. "I need to know where this Fallowstone Cave is."

"Will you help out Yamarz?" Atub questioned.

"You have my word," Luke said softly.

Atub nodded and reached inside of her robe. She pulled out a map and uncurled it. She pointed to a cave northeast of Riften and said, "That is Fallowstone Cave." She handed the map over to Luke and turned to head back inside of the longhouse.

Luke once again found himself at the southern gate of Riften as the sun started its descent below the horizon. The two guards opened the gate without a fuss and let Luke pass. Luke tiredly stumbled towards **The Bee and Barb** and noticed that there wasn't a soul to be found in the market. _It must be after hours for the stalls,_ Luke thought as he entered the inn. Talen-Jei noticed Luke walk in and his crest rose ever so slightly. The Argonian walked towards him and asked, "Do you need a room for the night again?"

"If you have one available," Luke answered.

"Always, my friend," Talen-Jei replied with a smile. "Right this way."

"Thank you," Luke said appreciatively.

Talen-Jei led Luke to the room that he had used during last night and the night before. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to let me know," he said before departing.

"I will," Luke replied.

Luke removed the armor and rolled his joints around, each giving a resounding crack before Luke would let out a groan of appreciation. Luke sat down on the bed and wrinkled his nose in disgust as the smell of body odor assaulted his nose. _I'll have to ask if there's somewhere I can bathe tomorrow morning_," he thought as his eyes closed.

_Explosions rocked the small house that Luke had taken shelter in as he waited for the last rays of sun to disappear below the horizon as he prepped for a suicidal charge. Luke counted and recounted his ammunition before readying his rifle. Luke made his way up the stairs and onto the roof, where he crawled on his belly, to a small buttress that supported a small greenhouse. He counted twenty muzzle flashes from a larger house a block and a half from him. Luke wiggled his way down from the roof and onto the street, his rifle always at the ready. He took a deep breath as he started to slowly advance towards the house that was still raining bullets and grenades at his brothers in arms._

_Amazingly, he went unnoticed right until the moment he kicked in the door and opened fire at the three men in the room. The three men fell, each with a bullet in their hearts before more men rushed in. The men fell, one after another, killed in the same way as their comrades. Luke counted, fifteen men, leaving at least five more still upstairs._

_Luke swapped out magazines and started to make his way towards the stairs. Cautiously, Luke checked all of the rooms before coming to the last room on the upper story. He heard chatting and some laughter coming from the room. There was a pause in whatever conversation the men were having in the room, before an object was tossed through the doorway. Luke's eyes widened and he threw himself into an adjacent room that he had just cleared. An explosion sounded in the hallway and Luke felt some shrapnel hit his right leg._

_Footsteps soon sounded into the hallway, and Luke leveled his gun at the doorway. A head popped into the doorway, and Luke did not hesitate to pull the trigger. The bullet tore through the man's head, killing him instantly. There were sharp shouts from the man's comrades. Luke shuffled up onto his feet and edged his way towards the doorway. He took a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin. A deep breath calmed his fraying nerves as he threw the grenade towards the room. _

_There were cries of alarm before the grenade exploded. Luke lifted his gun and swung out into the hallway, the gun pointed towards the unchecked room. He checked the room and noticed that four men lay on the ground, unmoving. Luke nudged the men and for good measure, put a bullet in each of their heads before coming to the last man…_

Luke woke with a start as there was a knock at his door. Luke struggled to slow down his breathing as another knock hit the door. "Ye…yes?" Luke managed to get out.

"Breakfast is ready," he heard Talen-Jei call.

"Than…thank you," Luke called back.

Luke heaved himself upright and closed his eyes. Out of almost a reflex, he grabbed where the shrapnel had hit his leg. Luke also ran his hands over his chest to feel for the bullet wounds he hadn't noticed until he had regrouped with his squad. Once he managed to get his breathing under control, Luke got out of the bed and started to put on the armor. Luke turned back to the bed and made it before grabbing his backpack and leaving the room.

Once downstairs Luke didn't even bother heading to the bar, the nightmare left him with no desire to eat. Luke walked to the door across from the staircase and heard Talen-Jei call out to him. Luke stopped and turned to face the Argonian.

"Are you not hungry?" the Argonian asked.

"Ah no, not particularly," answered Luke. "Thank you for waking me up, I've got someone to help today."

Talen-Jei nodded his head and held out a loaf of bread. "If you are not going to stay for breakfast, at least take this with you on the road," he said.

"Thank you," Luke said sincerely as he accepted the bread. "That gesture means a lot."

Luke stood outside the northern gate of Riften and pulled out his map. The location that Atub had pointed to didn't seem that far on the map, but without a scale Luke didn't know for sure how far the cave was. With a sigh, Luke rolled up the map and placed it into his pack once again. Luke decided to follow the road North for a while.

After roughly ten minutes of walking, Luke came to some watch towers guarding the road. They weren't made of rock and stone like Luke expected after being an avid fantasy nerd back home, instead they were just wooden structures with banners that matched the guards' shields.

Luke passed the structures and came out to an area where the road forked off to an unpaved path. Luke curiously looked to the west and saw a fort in the distance with a large hill as a backdrop. _This is probably a good spot to head east on,_ Luke thought.

Following his thought, Luke turned east and headed towards the foothills of the mountains on the unpaved part of the road. The unpaved path came to a fork as well and Luke chose to keep following the one that turned east.

The path started to curl around and then back up as it brought Luke closer to the foothills. Luke noticed a large opening in the side of the rock and saw Yamarz standing next to it. As Luke approached, his gaze wondered and saw a house on the other side of a small valley. Luke also took note of the blood that painted the path as he approached the opening of the cave. Yamarz noticed as Luke approached and a scowl formed on his face.

"Let's just get this over with," the orc chief said when Luke stopped next to him.

"I'm just here to help, like you wanted," Luke said narrowing his eyes at the tone Yamarz took.

"Oh, of course! Malacath only took pity on us because a useless outsider decided to lend his unwanted hand!" Yamarz said sarcastically. "Just get me to the giant leader so we can get this over with!"

Luke shrugged and headed into the cave. As his eyes adjusted to the lighting, Luke couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as he took in the shear size of the cave. There were enormous natural columns seemingly supporting the mountain and water flowing freely. Yamarz started heading down a path towards where the water was pooling and Luke followed. Across from the stream was a large bonfire with a giant tending the flames. Luke reached for his bow and didn't even worry about the thumb release as he nocked an arrow. He pulled the string back and sighted at the giant's head before releasing. The giant stumbled and fell face first into the fire as the arrow pierced through its skull. The giant gave a brief twitch before lying still. The smell of burning flesh soon reached Luke's nose and he struggled not to gag.

Luke followed the stream and Yamarz deeper into the cave and couldn't help but wonder at the strange paintings on the rock faces. Bones adorned some rocks as the pair ventured further into the depths of the cave. The path they were following diverged into two.

"It's the path on the left," Yamarz said. Luke gave him a questioning look and the orc chief rolled his eyes before clarifying, "Malacath said this was his shrine, he's the patron Prince of orcs. Do you honestly think that as an orc I have never once visited his shrine to pay homage?"

"No, you're right," Luke answered simply.

"Hmph," Yamarz harrumphed before continuing on.

The path led back outside and Luke squinted as his eyes once again adjusted. The mountains surrounded the grove that the pair now found themselves in and Luke figured that the easiest way to access it was to go through the cave. The two followed the path and Luke made it a bit further until he realized that Yamarz was no longer beside him. Luke saw another bonfire in the distance with a giant walking around it, before he turned to find Yamarz standing next to a large tree. Luke approached the chieftain and the orc took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'll go kill this giant," Yamarz said. "Unless you'd like to make a little extra gold?"

"What?" Luke asked taken back.

"Look, I haven't slept well in weeks because of this curse!" Yamarz said as if he were talking to a child. "You go kill the giant and bring me the hammer. We go back to Largashbur, I tell everyone that I killed the giant. You keep your gob shut, and I'll pay you. Handsomely."

"Fine, I'll kill the giant," Luke said. _I better get that gold, I could use some until I can find myself a job around here until I can find a way back home._

"Good," Yamarz said smugly. "I'll be waiting right here."

Luke rolled his eyes and reached for his bow once again as he headed down the path. He cured once he realized that he only had one arrow left. Luke snuck down the path and looked at the giant standing in front of an altar with a statue adorning it. The statue looked like an orc holding a two handed sword. _That's probably the likeness of Malacath,_ he thought. _That's also probably why the orcs seem to think he's their god._

Luke nocked the arrow as quietly as he could and drew the string back. His anchor felt good and he sighted for the giants head. The giant moved at the last second, and the arrow struck the giants right pectoral. The giant let out a roar of pain and focused its beady eyes on Luke.

"Uh-oh," Luke muttered as the giant charged forward, hammer held high.

Luke threw his bow to the side and readied a lightning bolt in each hand. He combined the two into an overcharged version of the attack and was dismayed when the giant only seemed to stumble in its approach. Luke launched another one at the giant and this time the giant fell to one knee. Luke drew the katana like sword from its sheath on his left hip and shrugged the shield down to his left arm.

The giant stood up and gave another roar before it took two large steps to close the remaining distance. It swung the hammer and Luke ducked underneath the blow. The hammer struck Luke's sword and shattered the blade. With a curse, Luke tossed the now useless hilt at the giant's foot, somehow severing one of its big toes. The giant roared in pain and Luke managed to conjure a sword. Luke rolled to the side to avoid another strike from the hammer and felt the ground shake from the giant's attack. Luke came back to his feet behind the giant and swung at the Achilles tendon on the giant's right leg. The conjured sword cut through the tendon, albeit with some difficulty since conjuration still was not one of Luke's strong points. The giant fell to its knees once again and let out a sound of protest before Luke plunged the blade through the giant's neck. The giant collapsed and lay still as Luke twisted the blade through the spine, effectively severing its connection.

Breathing heavily, Luke let the blade disappear and placed the shield onto his back once again before picking up the giant's club. Luke carried the club back towards Yamarz and stopped a couple of paces away from the orc chief once he noticed the orc's war axe was drawn. The adrenaline pumping through Luke's veins quickened as Yamarz took a step forward.

"Excellent work. You have a true fighting spirit," the orc said. "Did that better than I could have. Of course, I can't let you leave here alive. Wouldn't want anyone finding out now, do we?"

"You motherfucker!" Luke cursed as Yamarz charged.

Luke blocked the first attack with the club and managed to evade a second attack. Yamarz was relentless in his attacks, causing Luke to retreat towards the bonfire. Luke could feel blood trickling down his left arm from a cut that had deflected off his armor. He could feel his magicka pool restoring and with a last ditch effort threw the club at Yamarz.

The orc ducked out of the way of the attack, only to get blasted backwards by a dual casted lightning bolt. The orc flew back into a tree and wiped blood from his mouth. "I've fought worse than you!" Yamarz roared before charging once again.

Luke switched the spell in his right hand to that of fire and doused Yamarz in it as he approached. Yamarz let out cries of pain before being silenced briefly from a lightning bolt as he was once again thrown into a tree. Luke bent down and picked up the club before walking towards Yamarz, who was now down to his knees.

"Victory is yours," the orc said, "I submit."

Luke's eyes steeled over as his gaze bore into Yamarz's soul. He lifted the club and was about to bring it down when a memory flashed into mind.

_Luke approached the last man from the grenade blast, still alive and barely conscious. The man raised his hands pitifully and said something that Luke couldn't understand. The man then said, "Please, show mercy!" Luke felt nothing as he sighted down his gun. _

"_Ask your God for that," Luke said coldly as he pulled the trigger._

Yamarz sensed Luke's hesitation and gave out one last roar before swinging his war axe at Luke once again. Luke snapped out of the memory and brought the club down on Yamarz just as the war axe connected with Luke's armor. Luke stared down at the orc and felt a storm of emotions.

"**Yamarz was a fool. Always trying to scheme his way out of responsibility,**" a voice boomed. "**But, you took care of him and the giants. Two problems solved at once. Now, take Shagrol's hammer back to Largashbur, and we'll see about whipping the rest of them into shape!**"

Luke removed the hammer from Yamarz's back and sluggishly meandered back towards the bonfire where he had glimpsed a chest earlier. Luke knelt in front of the chest and cautiously opened the lid. There was a sapphire, a helm that had a blue glow to it, a large shield that had an orange glow to it, a dagger, and a mace of some kind. Luke stashed the items into his backpack before standing upright again. He glanced back at Yamarz before making his way out of the grove and cave.

Once Luke exited the cave, he glanced towards the house that was situated across the little valley. With a mental shrug, he decided to head towards the house just to check it out. He followed a little game trail down the hill and towards a creek or small river. He followed the water for a little while before noticing a door in the side of the foothill. Luke approached the door and saw that there were words carved above the door _Lost Prospect Mine_, they read. Luke turned back towards the water and followed it once again until he reached a bridge. He pulled himself from the ravine and back onto the road. Luke crossed the bridge and headed towards the house that sat upon the hill.

As Luke got closer to the house, an arrow planted itself right in front of him, causing Luke to jump in shock. A woman dressed in steel plate armor came towards him, with her weapon drawn. "You should turn back stranger, this property belongs to the Black-Briars," she said. "Consider yourself fortunate that we decided to give you a warning shot instead of killing you."

Luke swallowed some spit to wet his dry mouth before replying, "That's kind of you, I was only going to ask if you had some water or something to drink?"

The woman reached for a waterskin on her belt and tossed it to Luke, who caught it and took a hearty drink before tossing it back. "You have my thanks," he said before turning back towards the bridge.

Luke stayed on the road until it brought him back to Riften. The guards let him pass into the city and Luke couldn't help but notice that the sun was setting. He walked to the _Bee and Barb_ and entered. Talen-Jei just gave him a nod and pointed up the stairs. _Same room_, the Argonian mouthed.

Luke gave a nod back to the Argonian and trudged up the stairs. He went to the room that felt so familiar to him by now and collapsed onto the bed. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were to ask Talen-Jei in the morning where he could take a bath.

**Author's Note:**

**Hello everyone, I hope that you all will enjoy this chapter. If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or constructive criticism, I'd be happy to hear from you guys either in a PM or through a review. I would like to thank, **_feluzar_**, and** _Zps2000_** for the follow, it means a lot. **

**Sincerely,  
PF**


	9. Chapter 9

"_Life brings lessons into our life that come with free will. We can choose to be the victor or the victim." __**Anonymous Author**_

**Chapter IX**

Luke slept through the night without any difficulty for a change. He groaned as consciousness retook him and his joints protested with any small movement. Luke cracked his eyes open and looked around the now familiar room. Unable to take the discomfort any longer, Luke cast a healing spell and let out a sigh of relief as the pain in his joints ebbed away. He rolled out of the bed and removed his armor before leaving the room.

Luke found Talen-Jei standing in the hallway and quietly asked him where he was able to take a bath. The Argonian directed him into the basement where a basin was filled with water and a bar of soap and a clean cloth awaited. The Argonian left quickly after that and Luke began to disrobe. He climbed into the basin and began to cleanse himself for the first time in a long time if felt like. Luke dunked his head underwater and when he resurfaced, he let out a curse. Sylvana stood in front of the tub with an amused look on her face.

"Ever heard of privacy?" Luke asked.

Sylvana's eyes wandered over Luke's exposed torso before meeting his own. "This was an unexpected surprise for the morning," she simply said. "Talen-Jei only said that a customer was down here, not that it was you."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Luke responded as he took a hold of the bar of soap and wash cloth. He turned his back to Sylvana and heard her gasp.

"What caused the scars on your back?" she asked.

Luke paused in the lathering of the soap and briefly looked back at Sylvana over his shoulder. "It was an explosion quiet awhile ago," he answered simply. Sylvana didn't have to know that it had come from a grenade, he doubted she'd understand what one was anyway.

"Were you in a fight or was it a mining accident?" Sylvana asked with a hint of excitement.

Luke closed his eyes as he worked the lathered up soap into his hair. He quickly, but efficiently, cleaned his torso with the wash cloth before once again disappearing beneath the surface of the water in the bath. When he emerged, Luke replied, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm sorry, I'm just used to Nords being proud about their scars," Sylvana apologized.

Luke shrugged his shoulders and noticed the woman was holding something in her hands. "What'cha got there?" he asked.

"Part of the reason I'm down here is to ask if you'd like a shave," she answered with her eyes now fixed on Luke's left arm.

"A shave would be nice," Luke acknowledged. "I suppose you're now wondering about my tattoos?"

Sylvana's face turned pink and she averted her eyes, that Luke now noticed were a deep green. "And what if I am?" she questioned boldly.

Luke sighed and relaxed into the basin. "You've never left Riften, have you?" he asked.

"H-how did you know that?" Sylvana stuttered.

"The questions, the way you gawk at people you haven't seen before," Luke answered. "It's nothing to be ashamed about if that's what you're feeling."

"I'm not ashamed, just curious about the world outside of Riften," Sylvana said quietly.

"If you don't mind me asking, why haven't you left Riften?" Luke asked.

"I was planning on it, but with Ulfric killing the High King, I fear this Civil War is going to become more intense, causing the roads to become less safe," Sylvana answered. "I don't want to travel and risk endangering my life to bandits just because I was curious about the world outside of Riften."

"How old are you, Sylvana?" Luke asked.

"How do you know my name?" the woman questioned.

"I remember Keerava saying it when she questioned you about your interrogation of me on my first morning at the inn," he replied.

"Oh," Sylvana said softly. "I-I forgot about that. To answer your question, I just turned twenty-two."

"Hmm," Luke grunted.

Luke jumped in surprise when he felt a foam being spread on the back of his neck. "Sorry, but you did say you would like a shave," Sylvana said in his ear.

"I must've misunderstood then," Luke grumbled. "I thought you'd leave the shaving to me."

"That's usually what would happen, but I would like to continue our conversation," Sylvana said as she applied the shaving cream to Luke's face. "Now, how much facial hair would you like?"

Luke rolled his eyes and replied, "If you could leave a goatee, that would be fine with me."

"Hmm…" Sylvana hummed. The straightedge started on Luke's neck and worked quickly with precise strokes. Sylvana started to hum a tune and continued with her shaving. "Tilt your head up for me…thank you. So are you going to tell me about your tattoos on your left arm?"

"What would you like to know about them?" Luke asked.

"What does the one encompassing your upper arm mean?"

"The intertwined serpents don't really have a meaning to me, I just thought that it'd be nice to have, the knot that lies in the middle of the serpents means that the mind, body, and soul are all connected in the broad spectrum of the universe," Luke answered. "If your next questions are going to be about the color, I can tell you the colors don't have any meaning."

Luke received a playful swat on his shoulder from that and a quiet laugh from Sylvana. "You ass, my next question was going to be about your lower arm," she laughed before continuing her humming.

"The forearm tattoo is more of a symbolic tree of life, all things are rooted in it and all life is connected to it," Luke said quietly. "The cross is almost like a symbolic compass, it is rumored to help offer spiritual navigation."

"Hmm," Sylvana hummed as she continued the shave. "What about the other scars you have on your back and chest?"

_Bullet wounds,_ Luke replied mentally but verbally said, "Don't want to talk about those either." Luke noticed that the tub water was getting a bit cold and gave an involuntary shiver.

"Here, let me help with that," Sylvana muttered.

Luke frowned and opened his mouth to ask what she meant. Sylvana beat him to the punch and launched a small steady stream of flames from her unoccupied hand. Luke turned his head to glance at the barmaid and asked, "You're a mage?"

"I know a little bit of magic to get by," Sylvana replied. "Now hold still before I accidently end up cutting you because of your movement!"

"Sorry," he apologized before turning his head back to look straight. "You caught me by surprise, that's all."

Sylvana let out a small chuckle before continuing the shave. The final strokes came and went as Sylvana rinsed off the straightedge in the bath water. "There, all done," she said. "That wasn't so bad now was it?"

Luke let a small smile curl onto his face and answered, "No, it wasn't bad at all."

Sylvana let out a pleased hum and Luke heard her stand up. He turned his head to look at her and felt the blood rush to his face when he saw her start to disrobe. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Sylvana raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at him and rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm joining you for a bath," she said.

"Is that really necessary?" Luke rushed.

"Not really, but I haven't bathed in a while either and figured why not? The tub is large enough to accommodate two people," she replied with a mirthful glint in her eyes.

Luke quickly looked away from Sylvana as more of her tanned skin emerged from the confines of her clothing. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Luke sighed.

There was a brief pause as he heard Sylvana's dress hit the floor before she replied, "You're the most interesting thing to happen around Riften for a while. It's not often that a person hears about a stranger cussing out a supposed high ranking member of the Thieves Guild. Or ignoring the muscle of the Black-Briar family in Maul. I just want to kill two birds with one stone, learn more about you and get clean."

There was some muffled movement as Sylvana's bare feet shuffled on the floor. Luke closed his eyes as Sylvana came around through his peripheral vision. He kept them closed and asked, "Why does that make me interesting?"

The water rippled as Sylvana climbed into the tub. Luke felt the water heat up a bit more before Sylvana answered, "Not many travelers come to Riften, the reputation of the Thieves Guild keeps them away from here. So when a stranger stays three nights in a row here, gossip is bound to happen. And by the Eight, just open your damn eyes!"

Luke let out a small grunt and did as she asked. His eyes focused on hers for a brief second before he felt his eyes roam to look anywhere but at her. "This the first time you've seen a woman naked?" Sylvana teased. "Your blushing harder than a schoolboy."

Luke rolled his eyes before refocusing them on Sylvana's. "You're determined to make this as uncomfortable as possible, aren't you?"

"You make it almost too easy," she replied. "Now pass the soap and cloth please."

Luke handed Sylvana the items she asked for and Luke asked, "Do you have any family?"

"I have an adopted sister, Amara," Sylvana replied. "She's at the College of Winterhold studying to be a better mage. She's a Breton, like you. She's actually the one that taught me some magic before leaving two years ago."

"There's a college to study magic here?" Luke asked in surprise.

Sylvana rolled her eyes as she lathered the soap in her hands. "Yes, you have got to be one of the most uninformed people I've met."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"What about you, do you have any family?" Sylvana asked.

Luke shook his head and replied, "Not biologically speaking that I'm aware of. I was adopted the day I was born."

"I'm sorry," Sylvana said quietly.

"Don't be, we're just conversing," Luke shrugged off.

"What brought you to Riften?"

"I was looking to sell some items I found when I adventured into a burrow," Luke answered. "I was told that Riften was the best choice in the hold."

Sylvana briefly disappeared under the water to rinse off the suds before coming back up. She wiped the water from her eyes before saying, "You would have been better of heading to Whiterun, there are a better selection of traders."

"Riften has treated me fairly so far," Luke replied. "I just have a little bit more business to conclude in this hold and then I'll probably visit others."

Sylvana pinned him in place with an icy look in her eyes. Luke wondered if he said anything to annoy her before she said, "My sister told me about a man fitting your description before she left for the College."

"I highly doubt that I've met your sister," Luke said.

Sylvana gave Luke a brief once over and shuffled closer to him so that it'd appear to an outside observer that she was straddling him. She leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "I know that you're not from Northpoint."

Luke jerked his head back and before he could say anything, Sylvana disappeared.

Sylvana watched as the strange man claiming to be a Breton looked frantically around for her after her disappearance. She had no doubt that this was the man who her sister had dreamt about before leaving for the College. Amara had been firm in her belief that a man would wander through Riften and that man would signal the coming of an immense change for Tamriel. Her sister, could never tell if that change would bode well or ill for Tamriel and Sylvana could only guess as well since she was not blessed with precognition. Sylvana quietly gathered her clothes and cursed herself for her foolishness. _There I go again, lusting after a good looking man,_ she thought as she ascended the stairs and quickly went to the kitchen to dry off. _I wonder if Haj can help me. He's always been interested in interesting characters._ A squeak of shock left the Nord woman's lips as the kitchen door opened. She wheeled around and stopped in her tracks as Talen-Jei stood in the doorway with his mouth agape.

"What are you doing in the kitchen naked?" he asked.

"I'd rather not go into that right now, pa," she mumbled.

"Were you badgering Luke again?" her adoptive father asked as he turned around.

"I wouldn't say badgering," Sylvana replied as she dressed. "I just keep thinking that he's the man Amara always spoke about from her dreams."

"You know as well as I do that your sister never had the greatest successes with her divination," Talen-Jei said softly. "You should just drop whatever it is you're trying to do and move on."

"I know that pa," she said quietly.

"If you know, then you should do so without me having to tell you this," the Argonian said softly. "Just be glad I'm the one who caught you and not your mother. She won't hear about this from me."

A grateful smile formed on Sylvana's face and she rushed forward to hug the Argonian. "Thank you, pa!" she cried.

"Now, how about we get this establishment running before your mother gets here, hmm?"

Luke found himself standing on the docks of the Riften fishery and couldn't help but stare after the strange Argonian woman who was walking away from him and muttering to herself about how she should have left it and how she won't go back there. Luke looked down at the cube in his hands and back up at the retreating Argonian. Giving himself a mental shrug, Luke placed the cube into his back and retreated back into the city. _I'll have to ask Atub about this Avanchnzel once I get back to Largashbur… Fuck! How am I going to explain what happened to Yamarz! Oh, I'm so screwed!_ Luke thought as he wandered back to the south gate. _Well, I have a couple of hours to think of that answer._

There wasn't a giant attacking the stronghold this time around as Luke was allowed to walk through the gate. The orcs were talking amongst themselves as the watched him walk towards the altar, where Atub was already standing. Luke stopped in front of her and said, "I have Shagrol's Hammer."

"But… what of Yamarz?" Atub exhaled. "I see, he did not survive. He.. he died well?"

"He asked me to kill the giant, then attacked when I succeeded."

"Why would he do such a thing?" Atub cried.

"**Yamarz was a coward and a weakling!**" the voice of Malacath boomed through the stronghold. "**His deceitful ways have cost you all greatly!**"

Atub sighed and said, "So he has been punished? And what of us? What fate shall we suffer for his mistakes?"

"**You'll have to prove yourselves, but I am willing to give you a chance. Gularzob's in charge now. Let us hope he can be a better chief.**" Malacath boomed. "**You, outlander, place the hammer on the shrine. You're the only one who's proven worthy in all of this…**"

Luke placed the hammer on the antlers of the shrine and watched in awe as the hammer was enveloped in an energy field. Once the field dispersed, a different hammer had taken its place. Luke grabbed the hammer and felt a presence in his mind.

_**This is Volendrung, my hammer take care of it mortal or risk my wrath!**_ Malacath told Luke.

The presence in Luke's mind faded just as quickly as it had come and Luke turned to Atub. He opened his mouth but the orc beat him to it. "Malacath is entrusting it to you, it would cause great insult if you were to relinquish it," she said. "But before you do, let us give you this armor as our thanks. Two orcs came forward and placed a full set of steel plate armor at Luke's feet before backing up. Luke looked at that and then down at the armor that he was wearing. Something in his mind told him to take the plate armor and sell the set Balimund had made for him. Luke did as his mind told him and thanked Atub for the armor.

"Anything we can do to help, let us know," Atub said.

"Actually, I was wondering about a place called Avanchnzel, do you know it?" Luke asked.

"It is a Dwemer ruin, northwest of here in the mountains," Atub replied. "If that is where you're going, may Malacath guide you."

"Take care Atub," Luke said.

After a couple of more hours wandering the wilderness, Luke finally came to the ruins. He followed the ramps upwards and came to an opening in the face of the mountains. _So… it's a cave or is it still a ruin?_ he thought as he cautiously entered the cave. Luke set his pack on the ground as soon as he passed the threshold and pulled out Dawnfang and the Blades shield. He came to a spot and saw four figures shrouded in an orange energy. They were arguing amongst themselves and paid Luke no attention as he approached. Once whatever conversation it was ended, just as Luke reached them, the four vanished. _Kind of like Sylvana…_ Luke thought, still disturbed from his bath encounter. An uneasy feeling settled in his gut at the thoughts of Sylvana's last words. They kept ringing and resounding through his mind. _I know that you're not from Northpoint… I know that you're not from Northpoint… I know…_ Luke shook his head in a vain attempt to clear it. He pressed on deeper into the mountain.

After taking out a couple of mechanized spiders, Luke arrived at a large door. With a cautious nudge, the door swung open to reveal a corridor that led to a large open room. Two of the four figures appeared and conversed before they disappeared once more. Once again unnerved, Luke proceeded to stand in the place where the figures vanished. He turned to his left where there was a ramp leading to a door and decided to see where that lead. After meandering through some more hallways and fighting a couple more mechanized machines, Luke found himself standing outside and gazing over the Rift's countryside once more. Luke's breath was taken away with the view that he was getting. Off in the distance he could see the city of Riften nestled by the lake. Tearing his eyes away from the view, Luke headed back inside of Avanchnzel. He walked back to where he had seen the figures disappear and headed towards the only direction that he had yet to explore.

A couple more of the sphere things attacked and Luke was able to beat them, grateful that he had better armor now than when he had first arrived in the Rift. Luke felt a twinge of sadness hit him as he thought about the compound bow that he had left behind at Giant's Grove. _I should really go back and get it._

After dealing with more spider machines, Luke stopped for a brief rest. He sat down on the ground and removed his helm before reaching into a side pocket on the pack and pulling out an apple. Luke thought about nothing but Sylvana and shifted as he thought about her naked form. He quickly shocked himself with a small spurt of lightning to snap him out of his thoughts. He threw away the apple core before donning his helm once again and wondered out loud, "I wonder if I can shout through the helmet." With a guilty look around the room, he took a deep breath and yelled, "YOL!"

A surprised grunt left him as fire erupted from his mouth and materialized outside of his helm before flying forth. With a pleased smile at the fact he could shout with his helm on, Luke proceeded further into the depths of the Dwemer ruin.

The figures appeared once again and startled Luke at their abrupt appearance. The figures once more conversed and followed the previous pattern of then disappearing. Luke looked down the hallway towards the door that remained closed and gathered his magicka into his left hand as he placed his shield on his back. With Dawnfang in his right and lightning poised in his left, Luke approached the door. He let the magicka flow cease as out of the corner of his eye, he saw a chest. He opened the chest and found some gems and a green vial. Quickly stashing the items into his pack, Luke once more ventured toward the door, hoping to unravel the mysteries of the vanishing figures.

"How many more of these fucking things are there?" Luke cursed after defeating a sphere and spider pairing. Out of curiosity and some sense of unplaced vengeance, Luke looked through the scrap metal. He found some weird gem that felt different in his hand and in his mind to that of any other type of gem he had found in his previous adventures. With a mental note to ask about it later, the gem and other goodies joined his other things in his pack.

Luke came to another large room and found a table over off to the side of the entryway he had just come through. A bow lay on the table and it reminded Luke of the bow he had found in Shroud Hearth Barrow and later sold in Riften. He picked it up and saw a quiver of iron arrows next to it. He removed his back and situated the quiver before placing the pack back. The bow had a heavier draw weight than Luke had been expecting, but not heavier than he had been used to. A tent with four bedrolls captured his attention next. The four figures appeared and did their same routine. Luke let out a sigh before thinking, _That's getting really old… just what exactly are they? Two of them looked Argonian and one of them sounded just like From-Deepest-Fathoms. That can't be possible._

A voice whispered in Luke's mind, "You must let go of what you believed possible before you can ascertain what is."

Luke shook his head and his eyes widened as three spheres appeared and started to attack. Luke felt grateful once again as the new armor from the orcs saved his life more than once in the fight. After the last sphere fell, Luke knelt amongst the wrecked remains of the metal. A couple more of the unusual gems were added to his collection as Luke picked through the metal scraps. A few garnets joined the pack and Luke pulled out the green vial he had found before. With a cautionary sip, Luke felt his energy come back. "This shit works better than any energy drink back home," Luke mumbled to himself as he stood up.

After stopping the vial and placing it back in the pack, Luke continued on his way. With each encounter of the spiders or spheres, Luke couldn't explain it, but he could feel his confidence with the sword improving just as he had felt the confidence in his thu'um grow at High Hrothgar.

Two of the four figures appeared and discussed the machines and this lexicon once again. Luke ignored them and proceeded to the next door. When he opened it he saw two large machines laying on tables surrounded by the spider machines. The spider machines seemed to notice him and came storming up a set of stairs at the far end of the room. After Luke dealt with the spiders, he half expected the two larger machines to get up and attack him as well. A sigh of relief followed when that did not happen. He saw another set of stairs on the adjacent wall to where he had entered the room and quickly followed to see where the stairs lead. He paused after encountering a dead body surrounded by a pool of blood. Luke recognized this body as one of the disappearing figures from before, the one that had been ridiculed for being scared of a "few metal men". _I hope that your soul finds peace, Drennen,_ Luke thought. He continued down the hallway before the figures appeared with Drennen taking of on his companions. "I hope this is the last door," Luke muttered. "I swear there are as many doors as machines I've destroyed today."

As Luke entered this new room, he immediately felt the humidity in the air. A lot of steam was pumping out of vents. A couple more spheres fell to Luke's magic and blade as he progressed to another set of doors. Luke opened the doors and was about to head down the ramp when a voice from one of the apparitions called out, "Wait!"

Luke stopped immediately as three things emerged from each of the walls and stayed put, while a spinning blade emerged from the floor and made its way up and down the ramp. "How the fuck an I going to get passed that?" Luke mused out lout as he saw another body at the bottom of the ramp.

After a while of debating, Luke managed to get himself down the ramp to a lever. He pulled it and turned back to face the ramp, nothing happened at first but after awhile, the spinning blades ceased and disappeared back into the floor. Luke now noticed that the body was that of the other Argonian. Luke came to one last room after opening yet another door, much to his chagrin, and following the hallway one more time. Luke saw the boy of the woman lying still in a pool of blood with a large fallen machine next to her. Luke cautiously eyed the large machine still standing and took stock of a pedestal standing in the middle of the room.

As soon as Luke took one step into the room, the last machine mobilized. "Fuck…" was all he could say as a large cloud of steam was blown his way. Luke ducked out of the path of the steam and launched a firebolt at the machine. The firebolt didn't seem to have much of an effect as another bout of steam came Luke's way. He rolled out of way again and worked his shield down to his left arm. He blocked an incoming blow from what looked like a large hammer from the right arm of the machine and was sent flying. Luke felt a rib crack and he groaned in discomfort. _Alright,_ _don't attempt to block large hammer from steam powered machinery that is at least three times your size…_ he thought.

Luke struggled back to his feet and charged the large machine. He ducked out of the way of another swinging hammer and evaded the follow up attack. He swung Dawnfang into the machines leg, right at the joint where it joined the body. Luke was satisfied when it seemed to cause come damage. He repeated the dodge and evasion of the hammer and steam combination and followed it up with an attack from his sword. After a while, the large machine fell and Luke rooted through the wreckage and came away with more odd gems and different arrows. Luke limped over to the machine that had fallen already and did searched through it as well, once more coming up with different arrows and gems. Breathing hard still, Luke collapsed into a seating position. He let Dawnfang and his shield fall to the floor as exhaustion almost over came him.

With immense effort, Luke got his pack off and rummaged through it until he found the green vial once again. Instead of sipping it this time, Luke downed the contents as if he were drinking ice cold water after a long day in the sun. He felt his energy return and stood up with a groan as his cracked rib caused discomfort. Luke channeled magicka into both hands and let the soothing golden glow of healing pass over him. With a few turns side to side to see if the healing had eased the cracked rib pain, Luke felt a smile creep onto his face when there wasn't any discomfort left. He bent down and retrieved Dawnfang and his shield. He found a way to sheathe Dawnfang at his left hip with some leather that he took and fashioned from the fallen woman's armor. Luke then removed the lexicon from his pack and placed it onto the pedestal.

With a glow of bright red, the lexicon opened and something in his mind clicked. Concepts that he had never even dreamed before swam through his mind, pictures of him in armor reminiscent of the machines he had defeated soon followed. In the back of his mind, Luke felt a comprehension that this was the knowledge that the group had been looking for. As soon as the feeling of comprehension left, Luke focused his eyes on his greatest enemy of the day, another door. With a curse, Luke climbed up towards the door and opened it to reveal a hallway that led to lever.

Luke headed towards the lever but stopped when he noticed a chest to his left. He opened the chest and found a couple of golden rings, a pair of bracers that matched the armor he had seen in his vision. Upon closer inspection of the bracers, Luke noticed that they had a soft green glow to them. He found a dagger and a helmet, that matched the spheres he had fought, and the last item he found was a strange mace. Luke stored those in his back and walked to the lever. Luke pulled the lever and felt the floor underneath him rumble before feeling as if he was fighting gravity for the briefest of seconds.

Luke noticed that the four gears around the floor were rolling up the wall along matching teeth. _This must be an elevator of some sort, interesting that these Dwemer came up with a concept such as this,_ he thought. Luke immediately snorted after that thought as the follow up thought came next, _Of course they'd come up with something like this dumbass, they made functioning machines that work just off of steam!_

Once the elevator stopped, Luke looked at the door in front of him with a sense of loathing. He approached it and lifted the door bar before opening the door. Luke found himself in the same room that had led to the balcony overlooking the Rift. After a bit more walking, Luke was once again staring out at the countryside and felt the awe sweep over him once more. He gazed out at the now night sky and watched as the lights danced over head. A smile came unbidden to his face as he sat down to admire the dual moons and dancing lights of Skyrim.

**Author's Note:  
Sorry for the delay of this chapter, I was fighting writers block and I have no other excuse. I would like to thank the following for the favorites and the follows, it means a lot to me: **_nextss6__**, **__Trafalgar Jie__**,**__ DoctahG_**,**___courtsons_**,**_ Joshomania_**,**_ DarthPain224_**, and **_soupking_**. **

**If you could leave a review on what your thoughts are, it'd be much appreciated! Good luck and good health to all of you reading this and I hope to hear from you guys soon!**

**Thank you,  
Porter-Fuzz**


	10. Chapter 10

"_There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk." __**Guy Gavriel Kay**_

**Chapter X**

The city of Riften was quiet as Sylvana made her way to Helga's Bunkhouse. She looked both directions before opening the door. It had been more than a month since the Nord had last seen her friend Haj to ask him to track down the mysterious man known as Luke. Helga looked up from the desk and a frown graced her face. "Sylvana, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Do Keerava and Talen-Jei know that you're here?"

"Good evening Helga," Sylvana greeted. "No, they don't know that I'm here, but I was wondering if Haj is here?"

"Yes, the Argonian is here," Helga said, a hard line forming at her lips. "He's in the room upstairs that has the door closed. Let him know that he needs to pay me this time before he leaves!"

"Thank you," Sylvana said meekly, a blush coming to her face.

Helga gave Sylvana a tilt of her head to get the her moving and Sylvana complied. She hustled up the stairs and looked for the room that had the door closed. She eventually found it and paused outside with her hand raised to knock. Her blush returned with a vengeance as the rhythmic sound of flesh hitting flesh and moans hit her ears. Sylvana lowered her hand to the knob and quickly decided to open the door and slip in. She quickly averted her eyes to avoid the sight of her friend Haj laying on top of a beautiful Imperial woman.

The Argonian, with blue scales so dark that they appeared black, looked over his left shoulder and his crest rose in recognition. His hips moved a couple more times before he stilled and let out a loud groan as the Imperial whimpered beneath him. "You can look now, Sylvana," a deep voice with a slight hissing sound.

Sylvana looked up to see the dark scaled Argonian looking at her with an amused expression on his face. "I'm sorry for interrupting, Haj, but I heard that you were back in town," Sylvana said softly.

Haj linked his hands behind his head and leaned back further against the headboard. Sylvana briefly let her gaze wander over the exposed torso of the Argonian male. Haj smirked and asked, "Like what you see?"

Sylvana's blush deepened and she quickly averted her eyes once again. "Where you able to find him?" she asked, avoiding the question.

Haj's crest rose slightly and his gaze hardened. "No, I was unable to find the man that you described to me," he answered. "I went all over the Rift in order to try and find him. The last place he was seen in the Rift was Shor's Stone giving an ore sample to Filnjar, he disappeared after that. At least per my sources."

Sylvana opened her mouth to ask about something but promptly closed it as the Imperial woman got out of bed and dressed. "I have a feeling that I shouldn't be listening in on this conversation," the woman said simply. She turned her gaze to Haj and stated, "I'll see you tonight, handsome."

"Indeed you will," purred Haj with a lustful glint in his light blue eyes.

After the Imperial woman left, Sylvana gave the Argonian a soft look. "I've missed your company Haj," she said quietly.

Haj rolled his eyes and replied, "You wouldn't have had to go without my company if you hadn't sent me on a pointless chase across the Rift for the past month."

"So your, _sources_, haven't been able to find anything about him either?" Sylvana asked, going back to business.

"Would you stop changing subjects on me," whined Haj. "It's getting a tad confusing trying to follow your thought patterns!"

"Sorry," said Sylvana sheepishly.

"Hmm," grunted Haj. "So what will it be? Business or pleasure?"

A steely glare left Sylvana's eyes and pinned Haj to the bed. "Really?" she demanded. "Those are the words you're going to go with?"

Haj shrugged his shoulders and leaned further back against the headboard. "Words are words, without action they don't mean anything," the Argonian simply said.

"Then let's discuss _business_, shall we?" grumbled Sylvana.

Haj let out a laugh and shook his head. "Alright, let's get down to business then," he said mirthfully. "For starters, you owe me one hundred and twenty septims for this little job."

"One hundred and twenty!" exclaimed Sylvana. "We agreed on eighty!"

"The eighty was supposed to be for two weeks," Haj pointed out. "I was out there for a whole month."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Well, not mine," Haj said with a smile. "You explicitly told me that you didn't want to see my face until I had some answers on who this Luke guy is."

"So do you have any answers on who and where he's come from?" queried Sylvana a bit impatiently.

"All my sources came back with the same information," Haj said quietly. "This guy doesn't exist anywhere."

"What!?" cried Sylvana.

"High Rock has no information, more specifically Northpoint where he claimed to be from," Haj said, a hard look coming to his eyes. "Hammerfell didn't have anything either, same with Morrowind, the Summerset Isles, Elsweyr, and Black Marsh. This man clearly does not exist."

"Could your sources be wrong?" asked Sylvana.

"They've never been wrong in the past," answered Haj. "I had them check for any alias' that he might've had in the past, everything came up with the same answer."

"But…but this doesn't make any sense!"

"I know," Haj said softly. "What if… what if your sister was actually right for a change?"

Sylvana hugged herself and replied, "That's a possibility that I don't want to think about. Because _if_ she's right this time around, what else has she been right about?" Sylvana let out a shuttered breath and asked, "Have your sources turned anything else up?"

"Oddly enough, there's a new Harbinger for the Companions," answered Haj. "Kodlak Whitmane has died. The bandit dens around Whiterun have also been cleansed, and this has happened in the span of a month."

"Maybe that's the reason you couldn't find anything in the Rift, any trail!" exclaimed Sylvana excitedly. "He's gone to Whiterun!"

Haj shook his head and replied, "Becoming the Harbinger in most likely less than a month seems impossible! It doesn't make any sense for that to have happened, from what little information we have about this Luke, he doesn't like to resort to violence. Why would he have gone to the Companions if that is the case?"

Sylvana slumped in defeat. "Do you think I'm insane for trying to figure out who he is?" she asked softly.

"Slightly," answered Haj truthfully. "Curiosity has always been one of your stronger traits ever since I've known you, and it is admirable," the Argonian paused briefly, "However, I have a feeling that we should let this one remain a mystery."

* * *

Footsteps approached the Harbinger's quarters in a hurry. It was still early in the morning and Vilkas hoped that the Harbinger wasn't sleeping, but that was an unlikely scenario. Vilkas has never known someone that enjoyed sleeping so much, it also might have had to do with the fact that the Harbinger also cleansed himself of the beast blood and was enjoying a good night's sleep for the first time in a month.

The Nord stopped in front of the door and raised his arm hesitantly to knock. With a sigh, Vilkas knocked on the door a couple times calling for the Harbinger.

"Give me a moment," Vilkas heard the Harbinger call.

The sound of the covers rustling, followed by feet walking haphazardly towards the door. The door swung open and Vilkas was face to face with the Harbinger, a man that stood equal to his height with tired blue eyes. The man looked to be either an Imperial or a Breton, but it was hard to determine since he was loathe to discuss it. Black hair framed a handsome face and a trimmed goatee graced the man's face. The only thing that stood out on his face was a newly acquired scar beneath his right eye. "What is Vilkas?" the Harbinger asked through a yawn.

"There have been people asking about you, Harbinger," answered Vilkas.

"What kind of people?"

"Thalmor agents for starters, they've never been interested in the Companions before. People that we think belong to the Thieves Guild, again they've never cared for us either," answered the Nord. "And lastly we've had a couple couriers arrive with letters from different Jarls."

"Okay, anything else?"

"No, Harbinger," answered Vilkas. "That's all."

The Harbinger let out a sigh and looked Vilkas in the eyes. "How many times do I have to ask that you call me by my name, not Harbinger?" he asked.

"At least once more," Vilkas said somewhat affronted. "You hold a position of honor, it would be dishonorable to not address you by your title!"

"You addressed Kodlak by his name, did you not?"

"Aye, we did only after he kept insisting that we do."

"And what am I doing?" the Harbinger deadpanned.

Vilkas wilted a bit and said, "Exactly as Kodlak did, Luke."

"Thank you, Vilkas," Luke said with a small smile. "Now only if the rest of them would follow suit. I'm not above any of you, if anything I'm still trying to process why Kodlak picked me over anyone else in the circle."

"I'm sure that he had his reasons," Vilkas said.

"Any new jobs open up?" asked Luke.

"You want to go on a job?" asked Vilkas in disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm rested up and ready to go, it's been a couple days since I've gone anywhere."

"Do you not remember what happened last time you went out?" Vilkas asked in worry.

Luke waved it off and said dismissively, "The Saints and the Seducers won't bother me anymore, I'm pretty sure that I've taken care of all of them."

"As you say, Harbinger. To answer your question, no there haven't been any job requests lately."

Luke shrugged his shoulders and said, "Then I think I'll just go on an adventure, see more of what Skyrim has to offer."

"Best of luck, and may you find an honorable battle, friend," Vilkas said as he turned and walked away.

Luke closed the door and turned to the chest at the foot of his bed. He approached the chest and opened it to reveal a set of golden armor. Luke looked at the armor as the past month flashed forward into his mind. Truth be told, he was a bit disgusted at himself for the paths he was walking here in Skyrim. He never imagined that after he had gotten out of the military back home that he would be placed in situations where it was kill or be killed again. The part that he was most disgusted by was that there was a total lack of guilt for the lives he had taken in the time he found himself in this strange land. Killing animals or draugr didn't matter to him, in his mind, but it was strange to not feel the guilt of the people, beast fold, and elves he had killed.

With a sigh, Luke removed the armor from the chest and with a now practiced hand, donned the armor. He walked over to where his sword belt was resting and quickly strapped so that Dawnfang rested over his left hip. Luke placed a quiver full of steel arrows on his back, along with a glass bow he had purchased in his brief stay in Solitude. Luke winced at the memory that came unbidden to the forefront of his mind, nothing like witnessing an execution just as one walked into a city. He shook that memory away and grabbed Ysgramor's shield. He placed that on the same holster he had fashioned for his bow and set about making his bed.

Once his bed was made, Luke ventured out into Whiterun. He made his way over to Warmaidens and sold a couple of armor pieces that he didn't need. Adrianne was amongst the more fair traders when it came to prices that Luke had met so far, and she was a good smith. She was appraising a piece that Luke himself had made, a dwarven armor set and she looked him in the eyes. "Did Eorlund help you with this?" she asked.

"A little bit," admitted Luke. "I'm still trying to learn how to temper the metal better and my hammer work could be better."

"You're still improving my leaps and bounds where you were at a month ago when you first appeared in Whiterun," mused Adrianne. "I'll give you three hundred gold for the armor and one hundred for the sword you made."

"That works for me, thank you."

After completing the transaction, Luke made his way out of Whiterun and headed over to the stables. Bjorlam was waiting in his carriage. The Nord looked down at Luke and asked, "Need a ride?"

"Yeah, I'd like to hire your carriage please," Luke answered.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"I'd like to go to Markarth please."

"That'd be twenty gold," Bjorlam said pleasantly. "Climb in back and we'll be off. Nice weather for a ride, let's hope it lasts."

After a two day carriage ride, Luke felt pretty sore. He cast a quick healing spell and let out a sigh of relief as the aches and pains faded away. "Where would be a good place to stay?" Luke asked Bjorlam.

"The Silver-Blood Inn," the carriage driver answered. "In fact, it's the only place to stay. Be careful in Markarth, Harbinger. The Silver-Bloods control everything!"

"Will do," promised Luke as he climbed out of the back of the carriage. "Thanks for the ride Bjorlam, have a safe journey back to Whiterun."

"Thank you, Harbinger," Bjorlam responded. "I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for here in the city."

Luke raised a hand in farewell as Bjorlam headed back East. _I just need to find this Calcelmo and show him this dwarven arrow he so desperately wants,_ Luke thought to himself as he entered the city.

Luke found the Silver-Blood Inn and entered. He approached a man behind the counter and asked for a room for a couple of days. The man nodded and showed Luke to his room. Luke overheard a couple of patrons discussing a recent Forsworn attack and something about a dark crypt and a heart, whatever that meant.

Luke looked at the bed in disbelief and looked over to the innkeeper, who had a smirk on his face. "A stone bed?" Luke cried. "Seriously?"

"I take it this is the first time you've been in Markarth," the innkeeper said. "All the beds are made from stone. Enjoy your stay."

"Thanks, what's your name?" Luke asked.

"The name's Kleppr," the innkeeper answered. "If you don't need anything else, I'll take my leave."

Kleppr left the room and Luke gave a distrustful glare at the stone bed. _I've slept on worse,_ he thought. _Besides, if I wake up stiff as a board in the morning, I can just heal myself. I'll look for Calcelmo in the morning._

The next morning went exactly has Luke had expected it to, minus the fact that the stiffness was worse than he had anticipated. Luke exited the Silver-Blood Inn and made his way up to Understone Keep. He eventually found Calcelmo and was surprised to see that he was an Altmer. That surprise quickly turned to disdain as Calcelmo blew up on him for no reason.

"The only reason I'm here is that you sent out two letters to me," Luke said icily after Calcelmo finished his tirade. "The first one was about a soul trap arrow and the second was _you_ asking to look at a Dwemer arrow that I had found. So if you're gonna act like an asshole, I don't know if I want to have any dealings with you."

Calcelmo wilted a bit more and mumbled another apology and had the balls to ask to look at the arrow. Luke rolled his eyes and reached into his pack for the arrow. Calcelmo's eyes lit up at the sight of the Dwemer arrow and he cautiously reached for it. Luke handed the arrow over and tuned out Calcelmo's ramblings about it, blindly nodding his head every now and then.

"…and if you take out the one known as Nimhe I'll give you a key for my Dwemer museum and let you take a hammer for your troubles," Calcelmo finished.

"Yeah, yeah, not a problem," Luke agreed only to pause and close his eyes in regret. _Fuck._

The door leading to Nchuand-Zel was impressive and Luke looked down at the key Calcelmo had given him. _I guess this is what I get for zoning out,_ he thought ruefully. _At least I'm four septims richer than I was before._ Once Luke unlocked the door and entered the Dwemer ruin, he noticed how similar the architecture was to Avanchnzel. There was quite a bit that was excavated, but only one open doorway as Luke made his way through the ruin. Luke snuck his way through the excavation, killing a couple frostbite spiders as he went, until he reached a large open area with ramp that let up to another landing with a door.

Luke stopped in the entry way of the room and looked up to see a large frostbite spider slowly descending down its web. Luke quietly knocked an arrow and pulled back on the bowstring. Once Nimhe hit the ground, Luke loosed arrow after arrow trying to bring the massive spider down, while dodging the venom that the spider spat towards him. Once Nihme fell, Luke cautiously approached the fallen arachnid. "Fuck, I hated spiders before I came to this damn place," Luke muttered under his breath. "Now, I really fucking hate them."

Luke looked at the arrows he shot Nihme full of and grunted in disappointment that only one of the five arrows was reusable. A body dressed in Imperial armor caught his attention next to the spider web filled doorway up the ramp. He noticed a note next to the body and picked it up. He read the note before tucking it away in a side pocket of his pack.

Luke made his way back to Calcelmo and delivered both the note and the fact that Nimhe wouldn't bother the excavation any longer. Calcelmo held his end of the deal and gave Luke a spare key to his museum, along with the promise that he could take something called Stendar's Hammer. Before Luke could head over to the museum, Calcelmo offered another bargain. He would pay Luke a reward for finding any of Staubin's notes, with a side note that Luke might not find Staubin alive. Against his better judgment, Luke agreed to that as well. Out of curiosity, Luke asked what Calcelmo had for sale and ended up purchasing a couple new spell tomes, Bound Bow and Bound Quiver. Luke also sold a couple of necklaces and rings that he had made and ended up breaking even with the Altmer wizard.

After retrieving the hammer and realizing how damn heavy the thing was, Luke sent a courier with it back to Jorrvaskr. Luke watched as the man made off towards the city gate and turned his attention back to Understone Keep. Luke squared his shoulders and set off to find Staubin's notes for Calcelmo.

"Whoa, this is impressive," Luke breathed as he beheld Nchuand-Zel fully before cursing when he noticed a couple of Falmer standing in his way. He had only encountered Falmer once before when he ventured into Shimmermist Cave outside of Whiterun during a job when he had first joined the Companions. From that one encounter, Luke new he was dealing with difficult opponents. He quietly took out every Falmer in sight with his bow as he made his way over towards a building. Usually wherever there was one Falmer, there were two more waiting in the shadows.

Luke made it to the building unscathed, once again silently taking out Falmer as they appeared. Luke eventually found a body and a diary belonging to a man named Stromm. Apparently there were possibilities of at least three more journals belonging to Staubin, Krag, and Erj. "This is going to take longer than I thought," murmured Luke.

Luke wandered Nchuand-Zel for a couple hours, slaying Falmer and finding journals to bring back to Calcelmo. There were a couple of tight spots for Luke, and he was definitely glad that the Companions had been able to handle a sword properly, though he still was not a master at it. Luke got to the last building and took a short break to eat some of his rations. The only journal that was left to collect was Staubin's. Luke came across Staubin's journal and groaned in disbelief that Staubin was trying to activate the old defenses of the Dwarven city. _Might as well finish what the man started,_ he thought.

Luke cursed as Dwemer machinations came out of the walls after he had defeated the last couple of Falmer in the room. After a lot of cursing and struggling, he prevailed over the machines. _These are definitely the worst, so damn persistent it's annoying!_ Luke came to a lever and pulled it expecting a trap to spring at him and was pleasantly surprised when a trap did not go off. _Now, all I have to do is report this back to Calcelmo and I can go get a decent sleep back at the inn._

After sneaking past a dueling Dwemer sphere and Falmer, Luke made it back to the excavation sight. He quickly closed the door behind him and hurried back towards Understone Keep. Calcelmo took the news well and informed Luke that he would inform the families of the deceased. He paid Luke well for the journals and Luke went back to the Silver-Blood Inn.

There were a few more patrons at the inn than when Luke had first checked into a room and there was a buzz amongst them as they discussed the cities affairs. Luke once again heard talks about a heart and crypt and listened in to the stories. "They say that the Knight's ghost haunts the hills around the Orc stronghold of Dushnikh Yal!" one man claimed.

"That's a load of shit and you know it!" cried another.

Luke rolled his eyes and removed himself from his seat. He purchased a meal from Kleppr and headed back to his room. Luke ate his meal quietly, pondering the stories of this ghost south of Markarth and decided that he'd look into it after he got some sleep. Luke finished his meal and climbed into bed, where for the first time since sleeping at High Hrothgar, he dreamt of dragons and war.

**Author's Note:**

**Happy End of November everyone! Sorry for the late update, I had a serious case of writers block. I hope the readers from the United States had a good Thanksgiving weekend. Stendar's Hammer is a Creation Club addition, so credit where credit is due for the creator of that fun little addition to _Skyrim_. I'd like to thank the following for the favorites/follows, it means a lot to me: **_A Week of Sundays_**,**_ Mordem_**,**_ Fatereaper_**,**_ Donbasos_**,**_ priceless22_**,**_ mugestuxshiro_**,**_ SaithePirate_**, and **_Sgtjam20_**.**

**Regards,  
PF**


	11. Chapter 11

"_Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings together, but do so with all your heart." __**Marcus Aurelius**_

**Chapter XI**

_Luke looked around the battlefield as Imperial Legionnaires and Stormcloaks slaughtered one another. Luke glanced up and noticed a black form in the shadows of the darkening sky make an appearance. Red eyes swirled to the front of the shadowy form. The sound of thundered rumbled across the battlefield as the form chuckled. _

"_Foolish mortals, your deaths will serve me greatly!" a voice boomed across the battlefield. _

_A pulsing white light overtook the battlefield as Luke kept watch. Luke lifted an arm to block the light as the pulsing intensified until the white light flashed around him and then stayed. Once the sting of the bright light faded, Luke noticed there was nothing but white light surrounding him now. Luke cautiously walked in whatever direction his feet took him until a golden light appeared in front of Luke, which caused him to stop. The golden light pulsed with life before solidifying into a golden dragon that now stood before him. The dragon cocked its head to the side and looked at Luke with a golden eye. "It has been awhile, hasn't it Dezheim," the dragon's deep voice boomed. _

_Luke closed his eyes as a forgotten memory burned through his mind. He gave a slight wince and then glared at the Divine god of Time. "Akatosh," he spat. _

_Akatosh chuckled and lowered his head so that one eye was level with Luke's. "I see you are still a little bitter about this whole situation that you are in," the god of time spoke. _

"_Of course I am! Because of you, I've been forced into a kill or be killed environment once again." snarled Luke his voice increasing with each accusation. "Because of you, I'm a fucking pawn in a game that I never wanted to be a part of! Because of you, every hope I have in going home is based off if this 'Dragonborn' can save the world! Because of you, I've lost any semblance of the man I was trying to be back home! I've reverted back into this heartless killer that I don't want to be!"_

_Akatosh's eye narrowed in anger and he let out a gust of smoke from his nostrils. "Are you quite finished, mortal?" he boomed. Luke snapped his mouth closed. "I have bestowed upon you a great power in order to ease you into the situation that I have thrust upon you! Pull yourself out of that pathetic temper tantrum and realize that there are things at work in this world that are bigger than you are! Stop whatever pity party you're throwing yourself in this moment and focus on the bigger picture!"_

"_Bigger picture?" yelled Luke. "There wouldn't have to be a bigger picture if __**you**__ hadn't brought me here! For fuck's sake, are all of you deities this self centered?"_

"_I'm not here to debate with you, mortal!" Akatosh snarled. "I have brought the Last Dragonborn into this world to kill my firstborn! The Scrolls have foretold of that final battle happening and out of an act born of pure desperation, I pulled __**you**__ from your plan and gave you purpose!" A look of shock erupted onto Luke's face and the Divine chuffed in response. "Of course I knew what your plan was, do not act so surprised. I should have told you that when I first met you all that time ago, but I was more concerned about giving you the tools to succeed in this world."_

"_Tell me something," Luke said softly. "What's the real reason that I'm here?"_

"_Because I believe that you are the wildcard, so to speak, that Alduin and others cannot anticipate nor have dominion over," Akatosh answered. "And because you were seeking purpose before the end."_

"_What others?" asked Luke cautiously, ignoring the last part._

"_The Daedric Princes are an example for one, they are less likely to make a claim on your soul."_

"_Even if I've become one of their Champions?" Luke asked. "I did have beast blood for almost a month."_

"_I meant unwilling claim, you willfully ingested the beast blood, and if it had been unwilling the outcome would've been different."_

"_Are you going to wipe this conversation from my memory as well?" Luke sighed._

"_I will. The same provisions are still in place."_

"_Can you at least tell me when I'll meet him?" asked Luke._

"_Meet who?" Akatosh antagonized with a mirthful glint in his eye._

"_You said that I'd get my memories back slowly when I meet the Dragonborn."_

"_My boy, who said anything about a man?" Akatosh said as he started to fade. _

Luke woke to a pounding headache and a feeling of confusion. He felt as if he couldn't remember something and that something was important. With a groan he peeled himself off of the stone bed and tried to work all the kinks out of his body from his restless sleep. Luke cast a quick healing spell and quickly strapped on his armor along with his weapons. Once he was sure that he had everything, Luke made the bed as best as he could before heading out into the dining area.

Other patrons gave Luke odd glances as they took in his golden armor and interesting sword. Luke bought a loaf of bread and paid to have his waterskin refilled. Kleppr gave Luke a quick onceover and leaned across the counter. "Are you the new Harbinger?" he asked.

"What gives you that impression?" countered Luke.

"The golden armor and odd sword at your hip are giving you away," Kleppr answered holding out the loaf of bread and filled waterskin. "There's also talks about the bandit groups that you've defeated."

"That's all it is, talk," Luke said as he took the items.

"What's the Harbinger doing all the way in Markarth?"

"Business," Luke answered with a hard look in his eyes. _This must be how innkeepers get their rumors, they just fish for anything that's out of the ordinary._

Kleppr shut his mouth and nodded his head in goodbye before quickly turning to another patron. Luke shook his own head as he exited the Silver-Blood Inn. A shuddering sigh slipped past his lips as he looked up at the sky. Luke briefly closed his eyes before focusing on the crowd that was gathering across the street at the local vendors.

Luke made his way to the gate and thought about all the things he had done since arriving in Skyrim. He gave a quick shake of his head to rid himself of the dark thoughts that were slowly starting to encroach upon his mental state. Luke reached into a side pocket of his pack and pulled out a map of Skyrim. He looked for the orc stronghold of Dushnikh Yal. He found it and meticulously plotted his course. Once he was satisfied that it was going to be a straightforward route, Luke placed the map back in its place. Luke let out a small sigh and reached for his waterskin. He took a quick drink and squared his shoulders mentally trying to prepare himself for whatever trouble he was undoubtedly getting into.

After an hour of walking, Luke eventually came to a bridge and saw a ghostly apparition. He glanced to his right to see a waterfall and saw that the apparition was moving further south. Once Luke caught up to the ghost, it disappeared as if it was getting conjured somewhere else. Luke kept his head on a swivel and noticed that the ghost somehow jumped further ahead.

Luke let out a curse as he ran to catch up again. The same thing happened again, only this time when Luke found the ghost, a bear was standing in the middle of the path trying to swat at it. The bear focused its beady eyes on Luke and let out a snarl before charging.

Luke quickly sidestepped the charging beast and unsheathed Dawnfang. The bear stopped and turned to face Luke, who once again stepped to the side. He quickly plunged Dawnfang through the bear's neck and crinkled his nose in disgust as Dawnfang ignited the bear's fur. Luke pulled Dawnfang from the bear's neck and watched as the bear fell to the earth. With a smooth and now practiced motion, Luke cleaned Dawnfang's blade before sheathing the weapon. Luke unsheathed his dagger and knelt next to the fallen bear. He removed the claws and stored them in his pack before standing up.

Luke turned his gaze to where the ghost was still standing. _The people at the inn mentioned that the man was a Breton knight, but from what I've gathered here in Skyrim at least, there are no such things as knights,_ Luke thought to himself as he made his way to the ghost once again. _I'll never understand this place. _

After following the ghost up a hill, walls of an orc stronghold appeared at the top. The ghost took a sharp turn to head west and like a lost puppy, Luke followed. After climbing up another portion of the hill, away from the stronghold, Luke cursed as multiple Forsworn swarmed over the hill and charged down at him. He quickly drew Dawnfang and shrugged Ysgramor's shield into position.

The Briarheart reached Luke first and quickly attacked with an axe and sword. With a fluid flourish, Luke stepped to the side and separated the head from the body. The next Forsworn that reached him took a more cautious approach before launching into a fierce hurricane of blows. Luke managed to deflect the blows with his shield, and whatever attacks he missed where deflected by his armor. He managed to lock this Forsworn's blades between his shield and body and quickly brought the Forsworn into the line of fire, literally. The last Forsworn reached the fight and launched a steady diet of fireballs at Luke. With the Forsworn trapped in between Luke and the fire as a human shield, she quickly dropped her weapons before dodging the incoming fire. Luke blocked the fireballs with his shield and winced as the metal became uncomfortably hot.

Luke focused his attention on the spell casting Forsworn and advanced as quickly as he could, dodging magical attacks as he went. The Forsworn drew a dagger and let out a blood-curdling screech as she advanced. The Forsworn and Luke exchanged attacks and counterattacks before Luke saw his opening. He slipped through the Forsworn's defense and stabbed her through the heart. The Forsworn's eyes got big before blood sputtered out of her mouth. Luke pushed the body away with his shield and turned in time to catch an attack on his shield from the remaining Forsworn.

The Forsworn attacked with a vengeance and immediately put Luke on the defensive. He winced as the sharp edge of the Forsworn's sword found weak spots in his armor. Luke stopped retreating under the blows and stood his ground before going on the offensive. The Forsworn dodged and parried as the fight took them up to the crest of the hill. She blocked his incoming attacks with practiced ease and soon went back on the offensive.

"YOL!" Luke shouted as the Forsworn slipped past his defenses and slipped a dagger in his side.

The Forsworn let out a shriek as she caught fire and Luke took the advantage and ended the fight with a well-placed stab through the heart. Luke let out a pained grunt as the motion shifted the dagger lodged in his side. Luke watched as the lifeless body of the last Forsworn hit the ground before he stabbed Dawnfang into the ground. He pulled the dagger from his side and quickly cast a healing spell to staunch the bleeding before pulling out a healing potion from one of his packs side pockets.

After downing the contents, Luke let out a relieved sigh. He searched the bodies of the fallen Forsworn and frowned as he read a letter that he found: **  
We've killed the traitor and given the knight's heart to the mother. She's gone back to Karthspire to perform the ritual.**

**We'll stand watch until she returns, and drain the blood of any knights who interfere.**

Luke let the letter fall from his hands and looked to see two more bodies that he hadn't noticed before. One looked to be in iron armor and the other was in steel. The knight in the steel armor had a note clenched in its right hand. Luke took the note and read that as well:

**We've received reports that the Beldama witches have resurfaced in the Reach.**

**I'm calling upon all willing and able knights to cleanse the land of witches, hags, and Reachmen. Remember always the death of our sworn brother, Simon Rodayne, for the Order of the Crypt, and for all of Shornhelm.**

**~~ Knight Captain Rainore.**

Luke stood and approached an altar looking rock that had a shrine dedicated to Mara and a couple of lit candles. A steel sword and shield rested against the altar and a grave captured his attention for the briefest of moments. He rolled his neck and once again pulled out the map of Skyrim. A frown marred his face when he saw his destination. _I must be getting suicidal again_, Luke thought. _I was told that Karthspire was a Forsworn encampment. I should just leave it well enough alone and head back to Whiterun._ Luke let a humorless chuckle slip past his lips as she moved away from the grave. _I should but I'm not going to._

After another hour of walking and another half hour of fighting, Luke looked down at the dead Hagraven at his feet. Luke sluggishly reached for a health and a stamina potion before greedily downing the contents of the vials. The potions helped Luke feel better, but he could still feel the fatigue deep in his bones as he approached another altar and plucked the knight's heart from it. Luke braced himself for another long hour back to the knight's grave and trudged along.

Once Luke got back to the gravesite, he placed the knight's heart in front of the shrine of Mara. He watched as an odd light encompassed the heart and watched the heart rise off the shrine. The heart floated to the knight's grave and dropped down into it. Luke backed off a couple of paces and watched as two apparitions appeared, swathed in purple light. The pair faded, leaving behind armor on the shrine. Luke gathered the armor and placed it in his pack. He looked at the fallen bodies of the other knights and buried them next to their comrade. Luke stumbled over to the fallen Forsworn and buried them as well; it felt like the decent thing to do considering he had snuffed out their lives.

With the burials finished, Luke looked up at the red colored sky as the sun began its descent. Luke let out a sigh and made his way to the orc stronghold. He was met with the same brusqueness from the orcs of Largashbur. Luke explained to them what happened with Yamarz and Malacath before they declared him blood kin and let him into the stronghold. He soon found himself in discussion with Gharol, the blacksmith of the stronghold, and asked her about the armor he had picked up from the knight.

"It's an intriguing set of armor," she said. "It's made from Ebony and definitely a Spell Knight armor set."

"Spell Knight?" Luke questioned.

"I know little about their order, so I would be unable to tell you anything about them," Gharol answered. "What I can tell you is that this is a very good set of armor, probably the best that you'll ever come across. They even have enchantments placed on them."

"They do?"

"The helm is enchanted to give you resistance toward magic, the cuirass is enchanted to help you with heavy armor, the gauntlets allow for you to use less magicka while casting Restoration spells, and the boots are enchanted to increase your stamina," Gharol explained.

"Thank you for the insight," thanked Luke.

Gharol waved of the thanks and asked Luke about his travels around Skyrim. He indulged her curiosity and explained how he somehow became Harbinger of the Companions. Once his tale had ended, without divulging that he wasn't from Tamriel, Luke asked the smith a question, "Would I be able to train in smithing with you for a while?"

"How longs the while going to be?" Gharol asked with a raised eyebrow.

"However long you'll have me."

The forge-wife of Dushnikh Yal paused in thought before letting out an almost defeated sigh before replying, "I'll give you some training, but in return I need you do deliver something for me."

"What do you need me to do?" asked Luke.

"When my daughter Lash chose to leave the stronghold, I forged a sword to channel all my shame and grief. Honor me by bringing my daughter this sword, outlander."

Luke gave the smith a nod and Gharol stood up to head over to a chest. She pulled out a sword and walked back over to where Luke was seated. Gharol handed the sword over to Luke and said, "An Orc blade is a very personal thing. Anger, regret, pride. All these things are put into our steel. Lash will understand once she gets the blade."

"Where is your daughter?" asked Luke.

"Last we heard she was in Karthwasten."

Ten days later, Luke was sweating up a storm at the forge in Dushnikh Yal. Gharol was barking orders in the forge left and right as she watched Luke attempting to make a dwarven sword. Luke beat the blade a couple of more times before placing it back into the fire and watching for signs that the metal was approaching the appropriate temperature for quenching. Once the metal got up to the correct temperature, Luke pulled the blade from the fire and quickly plunged it into the water next to the forge.

A billow of steam erupted as the hot metal made contact with the water. Luke pulled the blade from the water and held it up, making sure that the blade was straight. Luke let out a relieved sigh, as the blade hadn't picked up any warps or bends during the quenching. Gharol held out an impatient hand and Luke handed her the blade. The forge-wife grabbed a file from her waist and scraped it along the edges of the sword. She seemed satisfied with the outcome and handed the blade back to Luke. "You're definitely improving quicker than I thought you would for a Breton," she said. "If you keep up this pace, I'm sure that you'll be able to forge Ebony armor within the year."

"Thank you, Gharol," said Luke.

Gharol opened her mouth to speak when they heard Arob call out from one of the watchtowers. "Hold outlander, you have no business here!"

"I've come looking for the Harbinger," a voice called back. "I have a message for him from Vilkas."

Luke wiped the sweat from his brow and headed out of the forge. He climbed up the stairs that led to the watchtower that Arob was standing guard at and looked down to see a courier standing at the entryway of the stronghold with his hands in the air. The courier saw Luke approach and his eyes lit up. "There you are, I've been looking for you," he said reaching into his side pack and pulling out a letter. "I have something for you, your eyes only."

"I'll be right down," Luke called down to the courier.

Luke made his way down the stairs and to the courier. The courier handed Luke the letter and quickly turned and left. Luke opened the letter and a frown marred his face. Luke jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to look at Gharol.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I have to go back to Whiterun," answered Luke. "But first I need to stop in Falkreath and deal with an issue there."

"Well, good luck Blood-Kin and I hope that we can meet again."

"Thank you for the lessons, Gharol," said Luke sincerely. "I'll do my best to find time to smith when I'm not busy."

Luke approached Falkreath with a dark cloud hanging over his head. Vilkas' letter had warned Luke to be careful as more people were snooping around Jorrvaskr trying to find out who the new Harbinger actually was. The only thing that was really making the Companions nervous was the fact that they caught a scent of death around a Dark Elf who was asking for me. Vilkas said in his letter that the person had black and red leather armor under his clothing. Luke didn't know what that signified, but he was willing to bet that it wasn't a good thing. Vilkas also said that Farkas was waiting for him in Falkreath, more specifically _Dead Man's Drink_.

Luke opened the door to the inn and saw Farkas sitting at a far table, away from any other patrons and facing the door. Farkas' head lifted when he heard the door open and Luke saw him cautiously sniff the air. The Nord's eyes widened and held shock as Luke approached. "Harbinger," he mumbled.

"Farkas," Luke nodded as he removed the helm and sat down across from the Nord.

"What's with the new armor?"

Luke shrugged and answered vaguely, "Part of the adventure I sought out in Markarth."

"Hmm," Farkas harrumphed crossing his arms. "Too flashy for me and not my style, but it looks like it works well for you."

"Why are we meeting here instead of back at Jorrvaskr?" asked Luke getting right to the point.

Farkas shook his head and leaned forward in his seat. "Jorrvaskr is being watched too closely to have you come straight back," he said.

"Watched by whom?" asked Luke.

Farkas looked around the in and slipped Luke a piece of paper. Luke raised an eyebrow and took the paper before unfolding it. The only thing on the paper was a black handprint. Luke's eyebrow went further up his forehead as he looked at Farkas. "It's just a handprint," he deadpanned.

A look of worry etched itself onto Farkas' face and his eyes widened infinitesimally. "You really don't know what this means?" he breathed.

"No," replied Luke. "What the fuck does a black handprint have to do with anything?"

"The Dark Brotherhood."

Luke gestured with his hand for Farkas to continue. "Meaning?"

"They're a group of assassins, we don't know what it means but they're sending you a message of some sort."

Luke steeled his face to hide his shock and said evenly, "All this fuss over a message. I'll be fine Farkas. We should head back to Jorrvaskr."

"As you say, Luke."

Luke stood up and motioned for Farkas to wait there as he started to follow Luke's lead. Luke made his way to the barkeep and ordered two meals and ales. The barkeep moved out from behind the bar and Luke felt an odd sense of déjà vu hit him, although he new he was thinking back to his time in Riften. _Sylvana,_ Luke thought with a small smile. _I wonder what she's up to._ The smile was replaced with a frown almost immediately. _Never mind, going back there would be a bad idea. It's impossible for her to know who I am and where I actually came from, but she somehow knows that I'm not who or what I said I was._ Luke was pulled out of his thoughts as the barkeep came back with the food and drinks. Luke left the required amount of gold on the bar and took the food and gave a brief thanks to the barkeep.

Luke returned to Farkas' table with the food and sat down after setting the bowls and bottles on the table. "Might as well have a good hot meal before we head out, eh?" Luke said cheekily.

Farkas shook his head and gave a small smile. "You do know that we could stop at Riverwood, it's a good halfway point from here and Whiterun," he said. Luke shrugged and Farkas got a hard look in his eyes. "Why are you so reluctant to come back or stay at Jorrvaskr?"

"Because I don't like staying in one place for an extended period of time, I feel this constant itch to keep moving and seeing Skyrim," Luke answered. "I came to the Companions in order to learn how to better defend myself in this land, not become its leader. Kodlak chose the wrong person to succeed him."

Farkas let out a sigh and set his spoon down before taking a hearty drink from the ale. "We are rarely ready during the moment of our choosing," Farkas said solemnly. "That's something that Kodlak always used to tell Vilkas and me. We all saw great promise in you otherwise we never would've taken you into the Circle. Kodlak meant for you to take the mantle of Harbinger, dreams have a funny way of changing one's fate."

"I'm not a leader," Luke whispered. "No matter how much I picture myself to be one or thought of myself as one, the reality is I'm not cut out for it. I need to find myself first, I keep having this nagging suspicion that something is out there waiting for me and I need to find it."

"I'll inform the Circle once I get back then," Farkas said smoothly. "Whenever you're ready, we'll be there for you shield-brother."

"Thank you Farkas."

The rest of the meal went on in silence between the two men as more patrons started to grace the inn. Luke finished his meal with a content sigh and took a swig from his ale. He felt he should be worried about this Dark Brotherhood, but he just couldn't find it in him to care. The only thing that Luke was feeling at the moment was a sense of dread and destruction. He couldn't place it, for it felt as if an impending doom was hanging over the heads of every man, woman, and child in Skyrim. He gave himself a quick mental shake and focused on the present.

Farkas once again engaged Luke in conversation and they spent the rest of the afternoon talking, until the sun started its slow descent towards the horizon. Farkas stood from the table and bid his shield-brother goodnight before heading towards a rented room. Luke too stood up and made his way to the exit of the inn.

Once Luke was outside, he looked up towards the darkening sky and took a deep breath. As he released the breath he was holding in, Luke felt his shoulders relax and a sense of calm replaced the dread. Luke put the helm back on and headed out of Falkreath with a new sense of purpose that he couldn't explain.

**Author's Note:**

**Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2021 treats all of you better than 2020 did. A very special thanks goes out to **_Killer999_**,**_ Swinup123_**,**_ hshsjoseph_**,**_ SagelyGuy_**,**_ PitBullBytes_**,****and **_Exim Black_** for the favorites/follows. It means a lot.**


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